California Premiere
by FusseKat
Summary: Sequel to 'A Major Case'. Part 2 of the 'Sarah' trilogy. Goren & Eames are loaned out to investigate a serial killer with the LAPD and FBI. Once in LA the two detectives discover that Hollywood hides many secrets - an old nemesis & an old love appear.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: OK, I still don't own the characters from Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Wish I did. No 'intent' to harm or infringe...**

_This is part 2 of 3. It is the sequel to _"A Major Case". _Another many chaptered story, some are long, some are short and some are average. All chapters are written, so if you like the first chapter, you'll be able to read the story in full. Not strictly necessary to have read A Major Case before reading this one - the bare bones of events of that story are included within this part. _

_I hate to solicit for reviews, but I'm going to bite the bullet and hope it misses my foot -_ _I am still very new at sharing my writing, and anxiously await to hear from others about whether I'm doing anything right and what I can do to improve... so PLEASE READ and if something strikes you as strong or weak, well done or poorly done, please let me know._

**REPOSTED TO CORRECT MISSING CHAPTER 17 - OOPS... APOLOGIES FOR ANY CONFUSION...  
**

CHAPTER 1

"Eames, Goren… don't go anywhere. I'm on my way up to the Chief of D's office for a briefing. He specifically mentioned that I'd want to see both of you when we're finished. So, like I said, don't go anywhere. Stay put until I get back." Deakins walked out of the bullpen and headed towards the elevators.

Alexandra Eames-Davenport sat down at her desk. She had been about to sneak out a little early for the day. Not so early, that it would invite comment from any of the other detectives in the office or more specifically from her partner, Bobby Goren, but still early, at least until now. With a sigh, she picked up her phone and dialed her husband's cell phone to tell him she wouldn't be home early after all.

Bobby Goren looked up from the files and papers scattered across his desk and merely shrugged. It wasn't going to interrupt any plans he had for the evening. He went back to reviewing everything they'd found and done during the investigation into the Walker case. They'd concluded the case of Paul David Walker was a murder for hire. Walker's business partner, William Janseen had hired a couple of guys to make the hit look like a car accident. ADA Ron Carver was taking the case to the grand jury and hoping to get an indictment for murder and conspiracy to commit. Goren was to be Carver's first witness early Monday morning. Bobby was reacquainting himself with everything in the file to make sure he was prepared when he met with Carver tomorrow to prep his testimony. "What's going on, have a hot date with Andy tonight, Eames?"

"I should be so lucky. We're still working on filling out loan applications. All he's interested in from me tonight is my last five years' tax returns." Andy Davenport was trying to expand his business, but filling out all the required forms and applications and finding all the documentation that had to be submitted with the forms and applications was a truly daunting task. The process was proving to be the first real test to the six-month old marriage.

"You'll survive. And maybe by the time you're finished with all the paperwork and expanded the business Andy might wind up giving 'The Donald' a reason to quake in his boots. If by some chance that happens, I hope you remember who your friends are. Most importantly, me."

"Well, we'd better, and it might just make this all worth it. This is turning out to be more stressful than planning the wedding."

"Well, I told you _that_ wasn't worth it. Five minutes at city hall just down the street and you'd still be just as married and just as happy." Goren looked up from his reading, caught his partner's eye, and winked. The Goren-Eames partnership had so far lasted longer than the Eames-Westwick marriage, but Bobby was sure that both unions were going to go the distance.

"Very funny Bobby, you're such a funny, funny man." Alex got up and picked up her cell phone. She had decided to call Andy somewhere she would have a little privacy. Shaking her head as she walked away, she said, "…and such a romantic, Bobby. I really can't understand why someone hasn't snatched you up by now." Shaking her head, she walked off as she punched in the speed dial code for Andy. Alex had always called him Bobby. Even in their early days together as a team, she had called him Bobby and he never seemed to mind. He on the other hand very rarely called her anything other than Eames.

Looking slightly wounded, Bobby called after her, "You have no idea. Eames, no idea at all." Bobby could hear Logan laughing behind him.

"You tell her, Goren. Don't let her get away with that." Logan said, loud enough for Eames to hear.

"Oh, and you're so much better, Mike?" Megan Wheeler chided her partner. "It's a mystery how the two of you have managed to remain single for so very long." Applause, cheers, and catcalls sounded throughout the bullpen.

"Wheeler, is that any way to look out for your partner?" Mike asked, jokingly looking offended.

"I just call them like I see them, Mikey." Wheeler said as she went to get another cup of coffee. With a wink at Alex that Goren couldn't see, she added, "I really don't see what's so wrong with Goren though. He's kind of cute."

"I knew it. She likes me. She really likes me. She thinks I'm cute." Goren joked. Once again, the bullpen erupted in laughter. Three phone lines ringing at once broke up the joking atmosphere.

"Here we go again," said Logan as he reached for his ringing phone. "Logan…" After a few minutes silence and Logan scribbling on his note pad, Logan hung up and called out to Wheeler. "We've got a DB off of Washington Square Park. Let's hit it, Wheeler." Both Detectives quickly swallowed the rest of their coffees and pulled on their jackets.

Alex had kept walking but once inside the interview room she turned and looked back at her partner. Over the last few years, she had come to know a lot about Robert Goren, but she also knew there were still so many secrets. She was no less surprised at Goren's joking about this subject, than she was about everything she discovered about him. Most of what she'd learned about Bobby had been learned in the course of cases they'd investigated over the years.

She thought back to those first rocky days of their partnership and was so thankful she'd decided to go back to Captain Deakins and take back her request for a new partner. Bobby worked differently than most officers she had known and it took her awhile to discover just how good a cop Bobby was. She knew he'd been the lead officer in several successful undercover drug ops before coming over to Major Case. She knew what he had a perfect record in Narcotics, 30 arrests and 30 convictions, but Major Case was very different. It had taken her awhile to see that he was one of the most dedicated and effective police officers she had ever met. She knew now that they made a formidable team. They worked very well together. As Bobby said, they had complementary skills. She and Bobby worked their cases with a dogged determination, and diligence in their pursuit of the guilty.

However, after working with Goren for the last five years at a breakneck pace, the experience was taking a toll on her. In addition, there had been some significant changes in her personal life as well. She had met and within a year married entrepreneur Andrew Davenport. Her future was looking great. Alex wanted to be able to take time to enjoy it. She wished she had as much hope for Bobby's future.

No one would confuse Goren with a flighty romantic, but Alex knew that Bobby had a great need to find his future. He was so consumed by his professional life that he didn't leave him much time to seek out a personal life. He had made one valiant attempt in the time that she had known him. About two years ago, he'd met a woman named Sarah Stevens. Things had started out quickly and had flourished for a while. It had been a steady and balanced time in his life, probably one of the few periods in his life. But as with many things in Goren's life, things went tragically wrong. It hadn't been his fault, it had been out of his hands. Even Sarah hadn't been able to do anything to keep it from going wrong.

Anyone who met Bobby Goren would naturally assume he had driven the poor girl away with his behavior and intensity. As he often said, "he was an acquired taste." With Sarah, it hadn't seemed to take long or much effort to acquire that taste. Sarah had been made of stronger stuff than to allow a few of his quirky mannerisms to scare her. Of course, Sarah never realized how strong she was. It had stared out so promising.

But Sarah had a history too. Sarah had been able to end a relationship with an abusive boyfriend named Michael DeVry. Over a period of a couple of years, she began to rebuild her life and learn to trust people again. It was only after the fact did people find out how sick Michael he had truly been. Shortly after Sarah ended their three-year relationship Michael committed an armed robbery at a local liquor store and assaulted the clerk. The Brown University graduate had netted a grand total of 315.00 dollars and five years in the Connecticut State Prison system.

After five years, five years he had spent planning how to avenge himself on the one person he held responsible for all his problems - Sarah Stevens - DeVry served out his sentence and left Connecticut. He'd set out to find her in New York City. Sarah had moved back to New York after graduating from college and had been living and working as a novelist, of a popular crime fiction series. In the years Michael had been in prison, Sarah had written three novels that had done well, critically and financially. It hadn't taken him long to find her. He'd spent several weeks following her and had discovered how to strike back at her. By taking away the people in her life who she thought of as family, he assured his revenge. He killed five of those people, people that had been invaluable in Sarah's efforts to rebuild her life after ending her relationship with DeVry - her agents, Amanda Cartwright and Kelly Bishop. Her lifelong friend, Angela Thompson had been next on his list. Angela was the one person other than Sarah who had known Michael, and what Sarah been through. He had also killed Angela's husband David and their six-month old son, Sean. He'd also tried to kill Bobby, while holding Sarah hostage and using her as a shield.

However, Michael had been the one to die. He had been the only one to fire a weapon that day. His had been ruled a suicide. After shooting Bobby, he turned the gun on himself and had put one bullet from the .45-caliber sig sauer automatic he carried through the roof of his mouth. Bobby had shouted out to the officers to stop him, but it had happened too fast.

After that, it didn't take long for the relationship between Bobby and Sarah to implode. On the outside looking in, Alex and Andy had watched the two step back from each other, trying to give the other space, until that was all they had between them - space. They hadn't been able to pull things back together after that.

Then, an opportunity to write the screenplay for her second novel appeared. Shortly before her agent's death, Amanda Cartwright had optioned the book to Monogram Pictures in California. The offer had proved to be a way out for her. Bobby encouraged her to take it and not really having any reason to say no, she accepted the job. Since then, Sarah had lived in California. In the beginning they had stayed in touch with phone calls and emails, there had even been talk about Bobby taking some personal days and going out for a few day, but it never happened. It wasn't long before Bobby stopped telling Eames that Sarah said to say "hi", so she assumed the phone calls weren't happening anymore. Bobby never mentioned anything and Alex didn't want to ask.

From the corner of her eye she noticed Bobby stand up and walk around his desk. Alex turned her head to follow his gaze and saw that Captain Deakins was coming down the hall and into the squad room. "Eames, Goren…my office." She still hadn't called Andy yet. Now she wasn't going to have the chance.

Alex walked out of the interview room and joined Bobby in the Captain's office. Under her breath, Alex whispered, "What have you done now, Bobby?"

Bobby threw his hands up in surrender, "It's not me, Eames. I haven't done anything. I was going to ask you what you had done to bring us to the attention of the chief of D's. I haven't done anything," silently Bobby added, "at least I don't think so."

The look on Alex's face told Bobby she didn't quite believe him.

However, she should have.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

Captain Deakins sat down behind his desk as the two detectives entered his office and sat down in the chairs facing his desk. "There's been another hit by the 'Cross-Country' killer. It looks like he's made it out to California. The LAPD and FBI are setting up a joint task force and the Feds have requested the two of you. They're thinking is that he's going to stay in California for a while. The FBI agent in charge was impressed with the profile you worked up. He's curious to see if you can add anything to it, after looking at all the cases attributed to him since your original profile. Their lead profiler pulled your jacket Bobby. He was impressed that you worked with Declan Gage. The profilers in the bureau still consider Gage something of a legend. Frankly, he was impressed with the profile you worked up. They'd like you out there ASAP, they wanted you on the red-eye tonight. The Chief told them that was impossible. You have cases to hand off to others. The Chief's office is handling your flight arrangements, but it will be sometime tomorrow."

Alex and Bobby exchanged a look. With a slight shrug to indicate it was fine with him, Alex said, "Sure, tomorrow's fine."

"Good, that should give you enough time to fill in Reed and Sawyer on the Tyler case. They'll take over on that one from now on. It shouldn't take you longer than the rest of the week to take care of this thing In California. I think maybe we can get the department to spring for the weekend too."

"Um…um, Carver has me scheduled for the grand jury on Monday and we haven't gone over my testimony either."

"Carver was in the meeting with the Chief, he'll be rescheduling your appearance before the grand jury."

From the corner of his eye, Deakins saw Goren preparing to leap up. "It's a minor delay, that's all, Bobby. Until you clear this one. Janseen isn't going to get away with his partner's death."

Bobby nodded as Deakins continued. "Check back with me when you finish with Reed and Sawyer. I should have your travel vouchers and itineraries from upstairs for you by then." Deakins reached for his phone, his way of signaling his detectives that they were finished for now. The two detectives got up to leave.

Once outside his office, Bobby let loose with a mini war cry. "Woohoo! An expense paid trip to warm and sunny Southern California! Break out the sunscreen and shades."

Alex was having a hard time figuring out if Goren was seriously excited about going or being sarcastic. "Deakins didn't say anything about warm and sunny southern California; it could be cold and foggy northern California. So, are you seriously happy about this, or what?"

"What's not to be happy about? We'll have a couple of kick back days on the city's dime. I wonder, since it's for the FBI, I wonder if it's the nation's dime. How terrible could it be? We go in, knowing this joint task force is going to be a bunch of joke. LAPD and the FBI will be fighting for jurisdiction. Between the two, they'll pick through the profile we came up with, tear it apart, dismiss it as amateur to leave us with a couple of bruised and battered egos and a weekend of laying on a bright and warm sunny beach. I think it's a fair trade. We know this going in, so let's just sit back and enjoy a break from the city."

"You never cease to amaze me, Bobby. I guess you could be right. I wonder if Andy could sneak away for a couple of days. We could sure use a break from all those loan applications."

"He's the boss. If he's not clever enough to figure out a way to write off a trip like this as a business expense, you might want to rethink those loan applications you've have been filling out."

"Hey, hey, you may have something there. Why didn't I think of that? I still have to call Andy, maybe he can get away. He still doesn't know that I'm not going to be home early."

"Alex, It's after six o'clock, he's probably noticed by now. Shouldn't he be home by now? He's a pretty smart guy."

"Oh, crap, what time is it? Six o'clock, oh man…" Alex picked up her cell phone and started dialing. As she did, Detectives Reed and Sawyer stepped off the elevator and walk over to grab a cup of coffee.

Goren saw them and told Alex, "Go on, call Andy. I've got things covered with Reed and Sawyer."

"Cool! Thanks Bobby."

Bobby grabbed all the paperwork from the Tyler case. He caught Reed's eye and pointed to one of the interview rooms. Chris Reed nodded and leaned over to tell his partner. Bobby nodded and went into the interview room to wait for the officers. Not much had happened with this case yet, they didn't even have the ME's report yet. It wasn't going to take long to get Reed and Sawyer up to speed on this one.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3

Sarah was jolted awake by the sudden shaking of her bed. Her first thought was earthquake. It took her a moment to realize it was just Sammy resettling his bulk next to her, practically pushing her off the bed.

"If you're going to sleep in here, you need to stop waking me up at five o'clock in the morning." Reaching over, she ran her hand up and down the length of his torso. Sammy stretched and then struggled to sit up. He leaned over into Sarah's face, lowered his face to hers, and gave her several wet slobbering licks all over her face. "Aarrgh…and you've got to start brushing your teeth or using mouthwash or something. That is the most disgusting breath I've ever had the displeasure to smell. What DO you eat after I go to sleep?" Sarah pushed Sammy away from her face as she struggled to get up.

Sarah reached over to scratch the side of his neck as he tilted his head and appeared to grin at her. Sarah smiled and shook her head at the oh-so-familiar gesture. 'Why her?' she thought. "What do you say to a run, huh, boy…? You want to go for a run with me?"

Sammy knew what that meant and with an excited "Woof" jumped off the bed and ran to the sliding glass door that overlooked the beach and the Pacific Ocean. Turning to look back at Sarah, the three-year-old Golden Retriever chuffed softly at her, as if to say, "Hurry up. Let's go."

"Give me a minute. It takes me a little more time to get ready than it does for you." Getting out of bed, Sarah changed into the tank top and running shorts, she'd set out the night before. She sat as she ran a brush through her hair and gathered her long chestnut strands into a low ponytail and shoved her feet into running shoes. She got up and walked into the master bath and splashed her face with cool water and made use of a toothbrush, something she wished Sammy could use. She also rubbed on a layer of sunscreen on her exposed skin. The sun was already up and she worried about her fair skin, even this early in the morning. "OK boy, let's go." Sarah picked up her sunglasses as she opened the sliding glass door. Sammy ran ahead of her into the cool early morning air. She resolved to buy Sammy some of that doggy toothpaste she saw at the farmer's market the next time she went.

Sarah headed south along the beach, running towards Santa Monica. Since moving into the beach side condo, she started her day much the same way. Today wasn't any different. A run on the beach, twenty minutes down the beach and then twenty minutes back up the beach to the condo. By the time, she and Sammy returned to the condo, both would be tired and in need of a little cool down. They would run into the water and tousle for a few minutes before going back up to the house to eat, shower and read the paper.

Before getting into the shower, Sarah made sure that Sammy had a fresh bowls of both water and food. Checking to see that the automatic coffee maker had begun brewing she went out front to bring in the paper so that she could check out the news of the world while she sat and drank her coffee after her shower.

This morning, the headline on the Local Section of the paper caught her eye. Another killing had been attributed to the serial killer the press had named the 'Cross Country' killer. This time the killing was here in Los Angeles, two nights ago.

The victim was a young woman described as a 'working actress' -which in LA meant that she'd never made the big time. Her name had been Laura Nelson. The article went on to report that the LAPD and the FBI were forming a joint task force. They were working on a theory that he was in the area to stay for a while. The paper included a map highlighting the states where a killing matched the signature of the 'cross country' killer had taken place. The first one, just over a year ago had taken place in Maine, then others in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New York. Two New York detectives were the first to connect the first killings the five killings to the same individual. They hadn't been able to find and arrest him though. Subsequent killings had occurred in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, and now, California. The body count was now, twenty-four deaths in fourteen months, all attributed to the same killer.

A shiver ran down Sarah's spine, If this guy was in California, now was a good time to shake up her predictable routine a little bit. She hadn't spent the last several years writing detective mysteries without picking up a few things. She had even been involved with a NYPD detective for almost a year. She knew how careful people really needed to be. She had been up close and personal with a spree killer and had been one of the lucky ones. She hadn't been able to walk away unscathed, but she had been able to walk away. She had survived and he had not. She understood you couldn't take anything or anyone for granted. She also understood that your world was incredibly fragile and your whole world can turn upside down in a heartbeat.

Her phone rang and Sarah absently picked it up as she set the paper aside. "Hello."

"Hello Sarah, its Tony."

"Hi, Tony. Good morning."

"I'm going to have to cancel our meeting this morning. Have you seen the paper this morning?"

"Yes, I've just been reading about the 'Cross Country' killing."

"Did you know Vince had been dating Laura Nelson?" Vince DaSilva was Tony's older brother. Both were presidents at Monogram Pictures - they were Monogram Pictures - the company that was responsible for Sarah being in Los Angeles.

"No, oh my god, no I didn't know. How is he?"

"I'm not sure. He has been downtown with the police since yesterday morning. I've been handling things down at the studio, and I'm trying to get up to speed with what's going on with Vince. My father and our attorneys have been with him since the cops asked him to come in. I'm on my way there now." Vince and Tony's father was Philip DaSilva, founder and CEO of Monogram Pictures.

"If… if there's anything I can do. Please let me know. And please let Vince know he has my deepest condolences."

"Thank you Sarah. I'll let you know if there's anything you can do, but I think our lawyer is the most useful person right now. I'll also let Vince know what you said. I thought I'd let you know that the party tonight has been cancelled, but the premiere tomorrow night is still on, we have too much is riding on it. It's too late to cancel it anyway. I have Carla and Donna calling all the media outlets and invited guests, but I wanted to let you know. I'll try to call later, but it might be tomorrow before I have a chance."

"Oh, Tony…please don't worry about tomorrow. It really doesn't matter. Again, let Vince know how sorry I am about what's happened and if there is anything I can do for any of you, please let me know. Any thing at all, no matter how small you think it might be. You've all been so good to me…

"Thank you Sarah. I knew you'd be there for us. I knew you would empathize with what my family is going through right now. Thank you. I'm at the police station, I have to go."

"Good luck, Tony."

Sarah hung up the receiver and stared at the phone. So much tragedy and really so little anyone can do to stay out of harm's way, if that is your fate. Sarah knew from her own experience how difficult it was to avoid fate… Balance was really so fragile.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

Jack Hawkins and his partner Steve Jenkins were waiting in the terminal at LAX, trying to figure out how to spot these two NYPD officers, Goren and Eames. The Central Division detectives were waiting to chauffeur their New York counterparts downtown in time for joint LAPD/FBI briefing this afternoon.

Jack nodded his head at what seemed like at least one likely candidate. A tall guy with a preoccupied look on his face, trying to juggle his carry-on luggage and a notebook. The guy looked up and pointed towards the two LAPD officers. Hawkins and Jenkins approached. The woman with the man seemed to be responsible for keeping her partner from wandering off and getting lost. Jack and Steve looked at each other and wondered how desperate the NYPD had been for recruits when this guy had applied.

Shaking hands and making introductions, Alex said, "Hello Jack, good to meet you Steve. I'm Alex Eames and this is my partner is Bobby Goren."

"Good flight?" Asked Steve.

Bobby glanced at the man, distractedly, and said, "The flight… the flight was fine. But long." He glanced over to Eames who still hadn't calmed down from the flight. She hated flying and shared her hatred all the way across the country.

"Yeah, New York to LA is a long hall. I'm sorry to have to tell you this but the Chiefs have scheduled a briefing in about an hour. We're your drivers for the day. Everyone's waiting for you."

"Waiting for us? Shouldn't they be out looking for this guy? Why wait for us? We're the one who have to get up to speed on this. It's been months and eighteen killings since we've had any connection to the case. We don't have anything to bring to the table." Bobby didn't understand why they would delay looking for someone who had traveled cross-country and killed more than a dozen women.

"Hey, you know as much about the master plan as we do. We were just sent out to pick up and deliver you to the briefing. I guess they thought that by waiting for the wunderkinds from New York, they wouldn't be wasting anyone's time." Alex and Bobby exchanged a look at the undercurrent of resentment that they picked up from Steve's explanation.

"Look fellas, Bobby and I were completely surprised to be brought in on this. And for the record, I would rather be back in New York with my husband, than hanging out with a bunch of cops bashing each other over the head with their nightsticks."

"Alex. Calm down."

"I'm calm, Bobby. I' m not just going to sit here and put up with any crap by the rank and file, because a decision was made by their superiors' to disrupt our lives, and force us to sit in a cramped hollow tube for eight hours."

"She's a little stressed right now. " Bobby offered as explanation. "She doesn't like to fly."

"Shut up Bobby." Eames walked away to get her luggage.

The two LA detectives looked at each other and then after the retreating figure of Eames. Bobby shook his head and followed his partner, as the two LA detectives fell in step with him. They waited in silence for their luggage. Two hours after landing Eames and Goren were driven into the underground parking garage of the Central Division police station.

Once inside LA's equivalent to New York's One Police Plaza the four detectives joined the rest of the officers making up the task force in the eighth floor conference room. The rest of the team had arrived about half an hour earlier. Goren was taking it all in, looking around like a kid in a candy shop. Once again, the two LA detectives shared a look of disbelief at the behavior of the New York cop. Chief Jarvis told them that Goren and Eames were the detectives who connected the first killings to one individual. Goren had come up with the first profile of the 'Cross Country' killer.

The LA cops were finding it hard to believe that the Goren they picked up from the airport didn't seem capable of such detailed work. How this misfit come up with a profile anyone would or could take seriously seemed a mystery to the two detectives.

On the way up to the eighth floor, Jack tried to engage Alex in conversation, asking if she had ever been to Los Angeles before.

"Yes, several times. The last time I was here was just a few months ago with my husband."

"Oh, business or pleasure?"

"Business. He was looking for office space to set up a West Coast office for his consulting business. He's recently closed up a London office, to concentrate on working here in the states."

"What kind of consulting does he do?"

"Computer Networking and I-T mostly, but also some general business practices. It requires a lot of traveling and he's trying to expand the business so that he can hire independent contractors to do the actual traveling and long term in house situations, rather than always being the one running out to catch a plane himself."

"I bet that would make you a happy little wife."

"I'm always the happy little wife; it's the disgruntled police detective others need to worry about." Alex still wasn't ready to forget the LA cops earlier comments. The door of the elevator opened as Bobby solemnly nodded agreement for the benefit of the other two men.

Hawkins led the small group to the end of the hall on the eighth floor where the rest of the task force was waiting for them. There were two more LA detectives, John Sampson and Jane Denham. The four FBI agents were Craig Johnson, Kate Osgood, Janet Garcia and Mike Aguilar. Sampson told the newly arrived group that the Chief of Detectives, Robert Jarvis and FBI agent-in-charge, Sam Caldwell were on their way down from a meeting with the Police Commissioner and representatives from the Mayor's Office.

Jarvis and Caldwell came in and didn't stop for introductions or hellos, "Okay, we've all lot to cover in a small amount of time. I want… we want," Caldwell corrected himself, he motioned to include LAPD Chief Jarvis, "to get all the evidence we have so far into your hands and get your first impressions. Most of you have seen parts of this evidence, some of you haven't. Caldwell turned his attention to Goren and Eames.

"Okay, here we have copies of everything. The complete file from all crime scenes, from the local cops to the FBI field offices. The packet includes statements, both witness and from the scene, photos from the crime scene here in LA, some of the preliminary forensic reports and autopsy report. The newest piece of information is the videotaped interview with the latest victim's boyfriend, Vince DaSilva."

Detectives Samson and Denham exchanged looks with Hawkins and Jenkins who nodded back at them with wry grins. The police department knew many of the names connected with the entertainment industry. It was useful information to have, a good way to avoid any embarrassing situations with some of the more spoiled celebrities officers occasionally meet in the course of their jobs.

"For the benefit of those unfamiliar with DaSilva, he's the acting CEO and President of Marketing and Production for Monogram Pictures. DaSilva took over the reins of CEO from his father about six months ago when the old man suffered a stroke."

At the mention of Monogram Pictures, Alex snuck a sidelong glance over to Bobby who remained motionless except for the slight tightening of his jaw. Alex knew this was all the reaction as he was going to show. She thought that if the opportunity to work at Monogram hadn't surfaced when it did, Sarah and Bobby might still be together.

"Let's start with the videotape of Vince DaSilva. Hopefully by the time it's finished, we'll have the autopsy report back from the lab." Caldwell knew that was a long shot, but threw it out there anyway. Sometimes things happen the way you want them to.

Jarvis walked over to the TV and VCR and put the tape in as Caldwell walked to the back of the room to turn out the lights.

"….I've already told you. Laura called and cancelled our date. She said she wasn't feeling well and thought she might be coming down with the flu. She just wanted to stay home and get some sleep. I told her that was probably a good idea and that I'd call when I got home and see how she was feeling. I wound up staying late at the …"

"How late?" Interrupted a voice that Goren recognized as Jenkins.

"Um… I was there until about 9:30."

"What changed your mind? You had a date. What made you decide to stay and work late? Why not just go home." This time it was Hawkins' voice.

"The fact that I didn't have a date anymore. There's always something that needs to be done at the office. I decided to wrap up a few things that I'd been put off doing."

"What were you working on?" asked Jenkins.

"What does that have to do with…" DaSilva rubbed his hand across his face and let out an exasperated sigh… "Fine. I was working on a new marketing plan for a small film that's not going to do well. If we're going to recoup any of the money we've sunk into it, we have to have a strong opening that first weekend. After that it's dead in the water. I have to meke that strong opening weekend happen."

"Out of curiosity, why release a movie like that anyway?" Hawkins was a real film buff and often wondered how some movies could be unleashed on an unsuspecting public.

"Um…" confused the movie exec starts to explain, "well, most often its done to get an actor or director to work on a project you want them for, in exchange you make a deal to put out there pet project. It's your basic quid pro quo."

"Ok, now what time was it again, when you left your office?"

"For the third time detective, about 9:30." Frustration was starting to set in and Goren realized several things. First, they thought this guy might be a suspect, which would mean that this wasn't the work of the 'Cross Country' killer. Second, this was not the beginning of the tape; this interview had been going on for a while. Third, Hawkins and Jenkins knew how to work the guy.

"Yes, you did, sorry I'm missed that in my notes. So, you left the office at 9:30. Then what did you do?"

"As I walked out, I saw the lights in my brother's office were on and went to see what he was working on. We talked a little about the release party and premiere of a film opening this Friday. Then I went out to my car. I tried calling Laura from my cell to see how she was feeling and to find out if there was anything she wanted me to bring by on my way home. She didn't answer. I assumed she was asleep, but I decided to drive over anyway."

"How long did you stay with your brother?"

"About ten, fifteen minutes. He was about to call it a night too. He said he was meeting some friends for drinks over at the Roosevelt at 10:00."

"Ok, so you left the studio and drove over to Laura Nelson's where you found the body…" At his words, "found the body", Hawkins saw DaSilva flinch. "The 9-1-1 call came in at 10:45. If as you say, you left your office about 9:45, why did it take almost an hour for you to get to Miss Nelson's. It's a half hour drive. Why did it take you so long to get there?"

"I…I stopped at this little Chinese restaurant not far from her apartment for take out, I picked up some soup for Laura and some Kung Pao Chicken for me." Bobby noticed in the written reports that the first officers at the scene had noted in their report that there were the two bags of food from The Panda King restaurant sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

"How did you get into the apartment Mr. DaSilva? Was the door unlocked? Was the door open?"

"It was locked…I used my key. Look I told all this to the officers the other night."

"How long had you been seeing Miss Nelson? Obviously, it was long enough for her to have given you a key."

Looking away for a moment from the detectives in front of him, Goren could see DaSilva trying to compose himself. To some it would look as if he was thinking about how to answer the question. If he had looked left with his eyes, Goren would agree, but DaSilva turned his whole body away from the detectives and took a deep breath, "Just over a year."

"A year. Are you seeing anyone else? Was she seeing anyone else?"

"What? No of course not. We were both committed to the relationship. We'd been talking about getting married." DaSilva's voice broke as he said these last words.

"Was that because of the pregnancy?

"What…what pregnancy? What are you talking about? Laura wasn't …"

"Well, the autopsy report we have confirms that she was pregnant. About nine weeks along."

"Oh God, no… no, that can't be right. That can't… can't be true. She would have told me." DaSilva buried his face in his hands and his sobs could be heard on the tape. After several minutes he raked his hands across his face and up through his hair. "I didn't know… I didn't know. She never told me. Ohmigod, Laura…"

Bobby leaned over and whispered to Eames, "Why do they think this guy did it, and if they think this guy did it, why are we here? They can't believe this guy is the 'Cross Country' killer. What's going on here?"

Perplexed, Alex shook her head, shrugged, and went back to watching the tape. Goren lost all interest in the tape now and started thinking about possible reasons why he and Eames had been hustled here from New York.

The time/date stamp on the tape showed it had been recorded the night of the murder. The LAPD already suspected DaSilva a day before he and Eames had been told by Captain Deakins they had been picked to go to Los Angeles as part of a joint task force on the "Cross Country" killer.

Goren didn't have much time to think about it though. He heard DaSilva say. "Wait… wait a minute. You think that I… I had something to do with what happened to Laura? That… that I killed her?" His voice rose. It had taken him a long time to see where the detectives had been leading him. It had taken the man far too long to see where this was headed to have actually been guilty.

"We haven't said that Mr. DaSilva. We're just covering all bases, all the possibilities. We have to look at everything and everyone." Detective Hawkins explained.

"Well, we're done here. I…I'm invoking my right to an attorney." DaSilva straightened and crossed his arms across his chest. Everyone in the interrogation room on the tape knew it was over, as did everyone in the conference room, who were watching the tape.

Agent Caldwell flipped on the lights. "Okay, that's what we have with Mr. DaSilva. We are holding him for the moment, but his attorney should have him out in the next couple of hours. In your packets, you'll find transcripts of the tape and all the interviews. If everyone could start reviewing them to familiarize yourselves with what we have so far."

"Agent…" Bobby started but stopped when Eames placed a warning hand on his forearm, whispering, "Not now Bobby, let's just see what they have." Packets around the room were being opened and pages began flipping as the others started on their assignment.

"Yes, Detective… you have a question?" Asked Caldwell, with just a hint of a smirk. He'd been warned about the detective. Most of this little conference was for Goren's benefit. Caldwell needed to know whether he had the right man for his team. This was the detective's chance to shine. And his partner was welcome to come along for the ride, if indeed Goren was the man Caldwell thought he was.

For now, Bobby would go along with Eames. And wait to see what was going on. "No…sorry, never mind." Bobby waved his left hand dismissively as he started flipping through the reports in front of him.

Eames watched as Bobby flipped through reports and became more and antsier as he sat there. Eames kept trying to catch his eye, hoping to keep him from asking the question that was burning in him. 'Why were they here?' She had to admit though; she couldn't figure it out either. This killing simply didn't look anything like the work of the 'Cross Country' killer that they'd seen in their investigation. She just couldn't see a connection between any of the cases attributed to those killings and this one. Bobby's frustration and agitation were becoming palpable and was starting to draw looks from the other officers. Punctuating his growing frustration wiith dismissive grunts and sighs, he looked over the reports. "Uh, oh,' thought Eames. 'Here we go.'

Caldwell had been watching Goren the whole time and now spoke up, "Is there a problem Detective Goren?"

"No… no problem Agent Caldwell, just a few questions."

"Sure, detective." Indulgently Caldwell nodded, "And what would they be…?"

"Well… well, in reviewing the evidence so far, it's fairly obvious that this killing wasn't the work of the 'Cross Country' killer. At best, maybe it's the work of a copycat or an even more likely possibility, someone pretending to be a copycat. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, everyone in this room knows this or should. If not they don't belong in this room. So really I guess my first question is, why were my partner and I brought out here to be a part of this case?. LAPD seems to think it's this guy DaSilva, which I also don't see, but.."

"What makes you think it's someone trying to make it appear to be the 'Cross Country' killer, if it really isn't, Detective?" Caldwell started his own interrogation of sorts.

Bobby took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, first off, the crime scene photos look far more like the scenes from Maine or Massachusetts, unorganized, rushed, sloppy, giving the impression of a man in a hurry - which we know is not the case. He learned how to do things by the time he got to Connecticut and New York; things were neat, organized and controlled. It took us over a week to get a hit on the earlier cases from VICAP because they seemed different at first glance."

Bobby paused and looked at Alex, who merely shrugged which he took to mean, 'go ahead.'

"The scene here looks staged. Pictures from the first two killings are on the internet, so it wouldn't take too much effort for someone to be able to find them to make the crime scene look right. Even if they couldn't make it feel right."

"Go on, what else, Detective."

"With this killing, the victim was killed in her apartment. She wasn't abducted and taken somewhere isolated, like all the other vics. She was clothed; she wasn't raped or tortured. The 'Cross Country' killer terrorizes his victims, Laura Nelson wasn't. It appears to have been a straight forward killing staged to look like something it wasn't"

"There is still a chance that this could be a random killing, but I don't think so. I think it was someone she knew. There were no signs of forced entry, she probably let him or her in. As I started to say a minute ago, I don't think it was DaSilva, either. Not only doesn't he seem to have a motive, there are the statements from the security guard at the gate of the studio, the drugstore clerk and the hostess at the Chinese restaurant that confirm DaSilva's timeline and rule him out as the killer."

"But then, you all know this. Which brings me back to my original question, why were my partner and I brought out here? And how did Hawkins and Jenkins know Laura Nelson was pregnant? Earlier you said you hoped we'd have the autopsy results soon."

"Way to go Bobby." Thought Eames. "You got it all out in the open without pissing anyone off." Well, at least no one seemed to be actively hostile yet.

"We'll get into that tomorrow Detective Goren. For tonight, I would like everyone to really familiarize yourself with everything in these files and we'll get into all this in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

Hawkins and Jenkins continued to act as chauffeurs and gave the New York detectives a ride to their hotel - a downtown executive Holiday Inn. The LA cops dropped Eames and Goren at the front entrance and helped them get their luggage from the trunk.

Bobby carried his two bags and Alex's into the hotel while she stayed behind to thank them for the ride. "So, tell me something Eames, your partner, is he for real?"

"Oh, yeah, he's very much for real. He may be as he's referred to himself as 'an acquired taste' but he's a helluva cop. Moreover, he's right about this and we all know it. I can't think of one good reason why we're here. Bobby just doesn't have that politically-correct censoring mechanism to keep him from questioning it. He may tread a fine line between not worrying about the 'political' consequences and having a death wish. So far, his balancing act is working." However, as always, in the back of her mind, Alex wondered for how long.

"Well, either way Eames, you have my condolences," said Hawkins.

"Don't think you're the first one to offer them. But I haven't met a detective yet, that would make me think about requesting a new partner." Alex turned and went to the registration desk where Bobby was checking in.

Hawkins and Jenkins looked at each other, "If you ever start acting like that, I'll trade you in, Jenkins. In a heartbeat."

"Right back at ya, partner." The two officers left to go back to Central Division Headquarters.

As Alex joined Bobby at the front desk, he asked her, "What time does Andy's plane get in?"

Looking at her watch, Alex said, "His flight should have landed about half an hour ago. He should be here soon." Check your cell phone Alex, she thought as she reached for it. She had turned it off - over four hours ago - while they were meeting with the LA cops and the Feds. "He must have landed; it looks like he left a message."

Bobby was digging out their confirmation numbers as the registration clerk patiently waited. Finding them and handing them over to the clerk, she typed in the numbers and pulled up the reservations.

"Okay, I have two rooms. To be billed to the New York Police Department. Okay, so …. Just so that you know, our contract with your department covers only basic room charges. Anything you might want to charge to the room, you'll have to pay for at checkout. That would include any long distance phone calls, internet charges, premium movie service, room service, minibar, etc. It'll be up to you to submit any of those charges for reimbursement from your department ."

Shaking her head, Alex muttered, "those cheapskate bastards…"

"Don't mind her…" Bobby glanced at the name badge she wore, "Alice. She's just a little anxious about her husband. Oh, she'll need two key cards for their room.

"So, you two aren't together?" Alice asked, taking a longer look at the tall detective. She thought he was kind of cute.

"Yes and no. But mostly no." Bobby said with a grin as Alex rolled her eyes. "Andy should be here now. He left a message an hour ago, saying he'd be here in half an hour. Has anyone left a message for me or asked about either of us, Goren or Eames?"

Looking at the screen in front of her, Alice replied, "Not that I'm aware of and nothing has been attached to your room. But if someone wanted to wait they'd most likely have gone into the bar or the business center if they're not in the lobby. The bar is just down to the left and the business center is just around the corner." Alice pointed to her left.

Alex started swiveling her head around looking for her tall blond headed husband. "Maybe in the bar?" Bobby suggested. A beer sounded good to him. It had been a long day. "If he's not, maybe we should wait for him in there? I could use a drink after this afternoonn. Thanks, Alice. I think we'll go have a look in there."

"My pleasure, Mr. Goren." she said as she sneaked a look at his registration form. "Shall I have your bags taken up to your rooms?"

"Yes, that would be great. Perfect." Bobby said, smiling at the pretty blond.

Alice pressed a button on the console in front of her. "A bellboy will be right up to take care of that for you."

"Thanks again, Alice." Bobby said as he grinned and turned to Alex as she scanned the bar looking for Andy.

"Maybe he's sitting in one of the booths in the back?" Bobby helpfully suggested.

Alex turned to him as a look of frustration crossed her face. "Well, you'd think he'd sit somewhere we could see him. Why would Andy turn his phone off? It went straight to his voicemail."

Bobby looked distractedly at Alex as he said, "Maybe he forgot to charge it. You can ask him when you see him. Let's just go in and get a drink to take the edge off. He's a big boy, he'll show up soon." Bobby knew that people were always so sympathetic to Eames for having to partner up with him. How come no one ever thought about what he had to put up with?

Bobby pointed out his bags and then Alex's as the bellman responded to Alice's call. Bobby slipped a 20 tip into the man's hand as Bobby thanked him for taking the bags up to their two rooms.

"Thank you, Sir. If I can be of any help to you during your stay, just ask for Felix."

"You'll probably be hearing from me again, Felix." Bobby said as he and Alex turned to walk to the bar. As soon as they entered the bar, Andy waved from a booth in the middle of the bar. Rolling her eyes, Alex marched over and asked Andy why his phone was off.

"Because I knew it would royally piss you off." Andy said, as he stood to kiss Alex and shake hands with Bobby. "And as two of New York's finest, I figured you'd be able to find me. I trust you've been keeping each other out of trouble."

"So far." Bobby said.

"Barely." Alex said.

"Well things sound normal then." Andy picked up a pitcher of beer and poured for the three of them. "You see, I've planned ahead. Beer all around." Then a server appeared bearing a large platter called the super size sampler.

The smell of food made Alex realize how hungry she was, she reached for a mozzarella cheese stick and burned her fingers. She dropped the cheese stick, muttering, "Son of a …."

"Is she always this grabby, Bobby?" asked Andy as he winked at Bobby.

"Why ask me Andy? If anyone would know how 'grabby' Alex is, it would be you."

"I am not going to be take the brunt of your male bonding rituals. If this is the level of conversation that I'm going to have to put up with tonight, I'm going to go upstairs right now, find my room and go to bed. And you…" Alex said as she pointed the remains of her mozzarella stick at Andy and then Bobby, "and you can just bunk in together."

Both men threw their hands up in surrender and Andy leaned over and kissed his wife. 'Okay, so how was your day?"

Over another pitcher of beer and the thoroughly demolished platter of appetizers, the day's events were repeated and dissected. Still, no one came up with a reasonable explanation of why the two detectives had been brought out here. As talk turned to ordering dinner, Bobby stood and pulled out two bills from his wallet saying, "No thanks, that's it for me folks. You two enjoy your dinner. I'm outta here. I'm going to go upstairs and do my 'homework'. Do you guys want to meet for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Sure, how 'bout 7:30 down in the lobby?" Suggested Alex.

"Okay, see you guys then. Good night."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

Bobby turned and looked back towards the bar and could see Alex and Andy sitting in the booth. They were holding hands, talking and laughing. It made him happy to see them so happy. It also made the weight of missed opportunities weigh heavier on him tonight.

Ever since he heard Deakins tell them they were going to Los Angeles, Bobby had been trying not to think about Sarah. Downtown Los Angeles was a little too close to Santa Monica for his comfort. He'd been able to make it through a day without something reminding him of her for a while now. Now, all the effort he was putting into not thinking about her only made him think about her constantly.

He thought about the last time he'd seen Sarah. He'd dropped her off at the airport, and as she turned to leave, his knees had actually buckled and he had to lean against the side of his car to keep from falling down. He'd tried his best to adopt an air of nonchalance in case she turned around. He didn't think he would ever forget the sight of her as she walked through the door, turned and raised a hand in final farewell as she had walked out of his life. Nothing in his life had prepared him for that, and a lot had happened in his life.

There had been some awkward phone calls in the beginning, but Sarah seemed more comfortable sending him cards and emails. They'd exchanged cards on birthdays and at Christmas. Neither had seriously mentioned visiting. It had been almost three months since he'd last called her, on her birthday. She hadn't been home. He'd left a message for her. She hadn't returned the call. He hadn't tried calling since.

'I need to get out of this hotel', he thought. He could feel the pressure building. He needed air, cool night air, he needed to walk. That was his escape back home. However, being less aware of the dangers here in LA he didn't think that it would be a very safe thing to do. Walking the streets of downtown Los Angeles couldn't be any safer than walking the streets in downtown New York City. He was in California, driving is what they did here. He needed a car. Andy had a car. He needed to get the keys from him without Alex finding out.

Bobby walked back to the bar and saw that Alex and Andy were still sitting at the table, now with menus. He was going to have to wait for Alex to get up from the table. She would have to go to the ladies room sometime soon; after all, they had gone through two pitchers of beer.

The server came about five minutes later and looked to be taking their order. As she left, the server motioned to the back of the bar. Alex got up and headed in that direction. As soon as she was out of sight, Bobby walked back into the bar and up to Andy.

"Hey, you're back. We just ordered, Let me get the server back…"

"No thanks. I…I need a favor. Do you have the car keys with you?"

Hesitantly Andy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the keys. Before handing them to Bobby he softly asked, "Bobby, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"What are you talking about? I just need to get some air; I need to get out of the hotel for a while. I spent 7 hours on a plane with a very nervous flyer, your wife. I spent another couple of hours cooped up in a conference room at LAPD. I need some space. I thought that even my driving would be safer than walking around the streets of downtown Los Angeles in the middle of the night."

"That's not what I meant." Andy gave Bobby a hard appraising look. "You know what I meant. And I don't think it's a good idea."

With a sigh Bobby said, "Look, I just need a break. Are you going to let me borrow the car or not? There's no reason for anyone to worry about this." Bobby was really starting to feel that if he didn't get out of this hotel and get moving soon, he was going to explode. He did understand why Andy would be concerned about where he thought Bobby might was going.

"OK. It's across the street in the parking structure on the second level, facing this side of the street in space 225. It's about halfway down the row. The car is a dark blue Ford Taurus and the plate number is on the key ring."

"Thanks Andy, I appreciate it. Um… look, I don't think I would mention this to Alex."

"I didn't plan on it. I value my life. Don't tell her I gave you the keys. That's a fight I don't want any part of. If it comes down to you or me, I'm going to tell her you picked my pocket and stole the keys."

"Well, I hope it doesn't come down to that. Thanks again Andy. I'll get the keys back to you tomorrow. I've got to go. I don't want to go through this again with Alex." Bobby turned and walked out of the bar. He really didn't think about where he was going, but he knew without thinking where he'd wind up. He wasn't even sure that he would be able to find his way, even with the GPS Andy had said the car came with.

Andy watched Bobby walk away and slowly shook his head. There were many times Andy was amazed by and in awe of the detective. Not now though, he wouldn't want to be in those size thirteen shoes for anything. He had witnessed how long it took Bobby to regain his balance after Sarah left New York. Regardless of what Bobby told him, he knew the situation was weighing especially heavy on the man tonight.

"So, did you give Bobby the keys to the car?" It gave Alex a perverse sense of pleasure to see Andy jump and then wince as she walked up behind him.

"How did you know?"

"I know both of you so well. You couldn't say no to Bobby if your life depended on it. I think we all knew as soon as we knew we were coming out to Los Angeles that Bobby was going to pull something like this. I just didn't think it would happen our first day here."

The server brought their salads and they began to eat. "Let's just eat our dinner tonight, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow." Alex said as she picked up her fork


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

It took Bobby a few minutes to find Andy's rental car and a few more minutes to figure out how to use the GPS navigator. He punched in Sarah's address and watched as the map appeared and saw the route he should take. Traffic was light, and it took only Bobby about 45 minutes to reach Sarah's address in the northern end of Santa Monica. Her house was dark, and it didn't look like she was home. He slowed as he passed the house, considering his options. He flipped a U-turn and pulled over across the street from her condominium staring at the darkened structure. What would he have done if the lights had been on? Would he have pulled over, walked up the driveway and rung the doorbell? He really didn't know. He thought about the first night he'd met Sarah and had followed her to her apartment after the book signing where they'd met. What was his plan now? Sit out here until she came home. If so, what then?

The house next to Sarah's seemed to be in full party mode, music and laughter competed with the surf as the waves rolled onto the beach. Maybe that's where Sarah was. At the party, having fun with new friends, moving on with her life, looking for happiness. This shouldn't make him feel so sad, but it did. He wanted her to be happy. But, where did that leave him?

Bobby rolled up the car window and opened the door. He really did need to get out and walk. He needed to burn off some of the funk that had descended on him. He could see there was access to the beach between the two condos and headed for it. The salt-tinged air from the ocean was refreshing and cool as he took a deep breath in. He slipped off his shoes and took off his socks and dug his toes in the still warm sand. This was a good idea. He could see several of the water front homes had lights that cast a pale glow onto the beach and that there were still people hanging out. He saw a small group of young guys standing around talking and laughing and drinking beer, by the looks of the bottles. There were a few older couples walking hand in hand or just side by side, and a few joggers trudging along near the waterline. He headed off up the beach, angling to the waterline where the walking would be easier. He didn't want a workout. He wanted to see if he could find what these people seemed to have found, at least for the moment… peace.

He stopped for a minute in front of Sarah's condo before continuing down closer to the waterline. As he walked by the house with the party, a voice from above shouted. "Hey, are you looking for Sarah? She and Sammy headed down the beach about twenty minutes ago. They shouldn't be gone much longer."

Not wanting to get in a protracted conversation with the young man, Bobby called out, "Thanks." "Great", he thought, 'there's a Sammy'. Looks like Sarah had been able to move on. That might explain why he'd never heard back from her after his birthday message to her. Bobby turned to walk in the opposite direction of where the guy pointed. He suddenly didn't want to 'accidentally' run into Sarah.

He walked for about fifteen minutes when he decided he should turn around and go back to the hotel. Today had been a very long day and he was sure tomorrow was bound to be another day inside Police Headquarters. Hopefully, he and Alex would find out why they were really here. While he was walking, he tried to empty out his mind, and let everything fall away. It wasn't working; he wasn't finding any peace out here tonight. He knew he was trying too hard not to think about anything. And he'd picked up some information that he hadn't wanted to find out about at all.

He was almost back to Sarah's house when a dark shadow ran past him, heading up the beach. Bobby turned and watched the dog, a Golden Retriever, come to a sliding stop and turn to race back down the beach. After the dog passed Bobby again, he slowed and circled back to stand in front of him. As the dog did, Bobby could hear the voice of the dog's owner sharply call out to the dog, "Sammy, stop it. Come here." In a tone meant to reassure, the voice called out to him, "Don't worry, he's about as ferocious as a two-week old kitten." The voice tried to call her dog back, a note of frustration creeping into her call, 'Sammy, come here! I'm sorry, but in addition to not being ferocious, he's also flunked out of obedience school - twice."

_So Sammy is a dog._ Thought Bobby. Why did that make him so happy?

"Sammy, you'd better get back to her." He reached down to scratch the top of the dog's head as the dog tilted his head to the side. Bobby raised a hand to wave away her concerns and in a louder voice he said, "Don't worry about us, Sarah. I think Sammy and I are on friendly terms now."

He noticed the woman hesitate and slow. It wouldn't be the first time for a woman alone had become cautious as he came closer. His height and size often gave people reason to pause. Maybe he shouldn't have called to her by name.

"Bobby? Is…is that you?"

"Yes, Yes Sarah, it's me." Bobby confessed with a deeply drawn breath.

"Oh my gosh, I can't, I mean…. Wow, I can't believe it…Bobby Goren. What are you doing here?"

"That's kind of a story, and I'm not sure I understand what I'm doing here anymore than you can."

Sarah convinced herself it was the shock of finding Bobby at her doorstep that accounted for what she was about to do. It was either shock or insanity; she could take her pick. She had been angry and hurt for so long about the way things ended. She thought it was time to get over it. She had been able to put much worse behind her; this should be a piece of cake. Either way, it wouldn't change anything, they weren't together and not likely to be together again. She didn't think it would hurt to try to be adult about things.

"Sammy and I are still working on setting boundaries. About what acceptable behavior is and what isn't acceptable behavior." She reached down and rubbed the top of Sammy's head. Turning back towards her condo she started walking as Bobby fell in step. "What brings you to L.A.?" Sarah asked trying to sound casual.

"The LAPD brought Alex and I out because of a suspected 'Cross Country' killing out here the other day."

Sarah nodded and said, "I read about that in the paper. So is it really one of his?"

"I don't think so. It doesn't look like it to me, but Alex and I haven't seen everything on the case yet."

Sarah nodded thoughtfully and now that they were at her condo, she hesitantly asked, "Hey, do you have a little time? Would you like to come inside? You know, sit down and have a drink? Catch up on things a little?" Sarah added brightly.

Bobby stopped in mid-stride and looked down into her upturned face. Her breath caught in her throat at the familiar gesture and the look in his eyes.

She could almost see the wheels in his head turning, trying to figure out what to say. the left corner of her lips began to curl up into a smile. To hide this from Bobby's very perceptive gaze she lowered her eyes to look at her shoes as she shook her head, "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Still covering all the bases, weighing all the possibilities. 'If I say this, then…, if I say that, then…, if I just stand here all night and just not answer…"

He grinned at the description, because it was so accurate. "Yeah, I guess some things don't change. What could it hurt to have a drink and catch up some? Sure… sounds good."

"Well, all right then. Good answer." Looking for Sammy, Sarah yelled and whistled for the dog. Both Bobby and Sarah heard the dog's rapid approach long before they could see him. "Watch out for him. Sometimes his brakes don't work as well as they should."

Sarah climbed up the steps that led from the beach to her condo. Just then, the dog bounded up the steps in one leap and slid to a stop in front of a pair of sliding glass doors. He turned to look over her shoulder, back at the two of them, and seemed to have a big grin on his face.

"All right, that's enough you big show off." She bent down and pulled a key from a pouch attached to her running shoes.

"Still running, I see." If ever a comment had a double meaning, that one did.

If the look on Sarah's face was any indication, she had the same thought, but her response was neutral. "My motives are purely self-preservation and survival instinct. This mutt of mine," Sarah said as she reached down to scratch the top of Sammy's head, between his ears, "would be bouncing off the walls if I didn't burn off some of his excess energy. Since I rented this place fully furnished, I would hate to have to replace anything. If it keeps me in shape, well that's just an added bonus."

Opening the door, she motioned for Bobby to precede her through the door. Both were too slow for Sammy who pushed his way past them, bounding into the kitchen for his water bowl, and began lapping away with so much gusto they could hear him from the doorway.

"Wow." was the only word that came to mind when Bobby got his first look at the interior. The bottom floor was one large open floor plan. The house and windows were laid out so that the views of the beach were showcased, even at night.

"You should see it in the daytime. It really has an amazing view. The bar is just over there." Sarah pointed past Bobby to the right. "When I said I rented this place fully furnished, I mean it was fully furnished, including a full bar. A still fully stocked bar. Um… help yourself. Look around. I want to make sure Sammy has enough food and water. I'll be right back."

"Take your time. What can I get you to drink?"

"Um…" Sarah stopped to consider, "How about cranberry juice with a lot of ice and just a splash of vodka."

"OK, it's on its way." Bobby walked over to the bar and started looking around. She wasn't kidding; anything anyone could want to make a drink was here. He broke out the ice from the tray in the mini fridge and poured cranberry juice and vodka for Sarah. Normally he was content with a beer, but tonight he poured himself a Glenlivet, also with a lot of ice.

Looking around he placed the drinks on a coffee table between to sofas. They could sit opposite each other. That would probably be best. What was he doing here? What had he been thinking? He should have listened to Andy. This was only going to end badly. He could sense it.

He stood and walked over to one of the windows to see how far out into the ocean he could see. He leaned forward and rested his forehead on the cool glass. What he saw through the dark glass was the shadow of the Sarah he had fallen in love with. An outwardly fragile woman with an inner core of strength she did not realize she possessed. Her friendly manner suggested confidence and mischievous. The quick bright smile and green eyes he'd seen flash with golden sparks in merriment, in anger, in passion. He saw Sammy peering at him from the kitchen where he had sprawled after he had enough to eat and drink. In a moment of near panic, he walked back to the table and picked up his drink. He gulped it down, hoping to take the edge off. He went to pour himself another to have with him when Sarah returned.

Walking back to the sofa, Bobby noticed an alcove off to the left that looked like Sarah was using as her office/writing space. Her laptop and several notebooks littered the top of a table serving as her desk. The room had a view out of two side windows of the beach and water beyond. In front of one window, a chaise afforded a view of the beach from the other window. He noticed one of the latest bestsellers casually left at the foot of the lounging chair.

After making sure Sammy had enough food and drink to sustain the ravenous and dehydrated dog, Sarah had run upstairs to change from her tank top and running shorts. She pulled on a pair of well-worn jeans and a pullover hoodie sweater and pushed up the sleeves. She unclipped her hair and brushed it, replacing the ponytail with a simple hair band to hold her hair back.

She could still feel how her heart quickened when she realized Bobby Goren was standing in front of her house. Once inside and in the light she noticed how pronounced the gray in his hair had become and the few extra pounds. She also noticed his hair was longer than he had worn it before and the slight curl in it at this length, his brown eyes and their penetrating gaze, his soft full lips and quirky little grin. She was half-tempted to stay upstairs and wait him out. She wasn't sure what she was hoping he would do - just leave or come upstairs after her. She was more afraid that he would just leave, so with a deep breath, she had gone back downstairs and saw him standing in the middle of her writing room.

"This is my favorite place in the house." Seeing Bobby jump at her words, she laid a calming hand on his bare forearm. That little contact seemed to sear the flesh of her hand. To try to cover up she laughed as she said, "I'm sorry; I didn't think I was sneaking up on you. I didn't mean to startle you."

It took Bobby a minute to trust his voice after Sarah had laid her hand on his arm. Nodding, he said "Well, I can see why it's your favorite room, it's great." Pointing over to her laptop, he asked, "What are you working on now? Another screenplay?"

"Um… well, right now I'm working on a new book. I've been able to get a lot of work done the last year and a half. The book is the second of a new series. I finished the screenplay to "To Tell The Truth" a couple of weeks ago. It's a little easier than I thought to write the screenplays. Maybe it's because I wrote them and I'm already very comfortable with the people and events from the book. Adapting another writer's work would probably be a lot more difficult. Monogram was impressed with the first screenplay and after they got that into production they bought the rights to "To Tell The Truth" too. It's in pre-production now." A hint of pride crept into her voice.

"Congratulations Sarah. That's great news. What's the new book about? Another series? All new characters?"

Looking out into the dark night herself, she took a minute before replying. "Yep. All new. I'm taking a break from crime fiction, for a while. This one is more of a supernatural tale. More John Saul or Peter Straub and less Stuart Wood or John Sanford."

Recoiling in mock horror, "No… no please tell me it's not about vampires."

"No, no it's not about vampires. Not that supernatural. And the first one doesn't have any vampires in it, but maybe I'll write one in this book, just for you." Bobby's overacting had her grinning.

"Oh, please don't do it on my account."

"We'll see. "The first in the series is about to be released, which means another book tour, which of course, I'm dreading." A pause. "So, where are those drinks?"

"Over by the sofas in front of the fireplace. And why may I ask, would anyone need a fireplace in Southern California?"

"You'd be surprised how cold it gets out here on the beach in the winter, even in Southern California." At the look of disbelief on his face she added, "I'll grant you it isn't the same cold as a New York winter and there's no snow, sleet or ice to deal with, but it does get cold."

Seeing the look of disbelief on his face, Sarah added, "No, seriously, it's true. It's nice to have a big fire burning to take the chill off. Snobby New Yorkers." She added as she shook her head in mock disgust.

"OK…Ok I give, you win. It gets cold in California."

"It also makes for a nice ambiance."

She reached for her drink and tried to sound casual as she asked, "OK, I'm a little confused about something. While the papers suggest that the 'Cross Country' killer killed Laura Nelson, I know the LAPD has been questioning Vince DaSilva in connection with her death. He's one of the executives at Monogram and I've met him several times. He's a nice guy. I know you really can't tell about people sometimes, but he seems like a good guy. I'd hate to think I was such a terrible judge of character, that I could be so fooled by him. I wasn't, was I?"

Bobby leaned back and merely nodded. Reaching forward he grabbed his drink and took a sip, and said, "Sarah, I've always thought you were a great judge of character."

"With one notable exception." Sarah took a sip of her drink and stared into it for a minute.

"With one notable exception." Bobby nodded and repeated.

Brightening a little Sarah said, "Also they mentioned 'the first working profile of the 'Cross Country' killer had been developed by New York detectives. When I read that I assumed they meant the State Police, but obviously it was you and Alex."

Again, Bobby merely nodded.

"And you're not going to talk about it."

Again, Sarah sat back and it was her turn to nod. Taking another sip from her drink, she thought about how much Bobby had told her, without really telling her anything. But how much more could he have told her?

"So, anything else new going on with you?"

"Me? No, nothing, come on you know it's always all about 'the job' for me. But Alex and Andy, now they got married about six months ago." Bobby was genuinely happy for them.

"Yes, I knew that. I received an announcement with their wedding picture in it. I sent them a gift, a pair of matching photo frames."

"You just got a wedding, not an invitation to the wedding? Well, that explained why she hadn't been at the wedding. Bobby had wondered why she hadn't come for the wedding.

"No, it was just the announcement." Bobby didn't know that she wasn't invited. She had thought that maybe Bobby had asked Alex not to invite her. Alex was just looking out for the both of them. She couldn't blame Alex, it would have been awkward and Alex would have worried about both of them. Not anything a bride was to do on her wedding day.

"I think I've seen the frames at Alex's, she has some of the wedding pictures in them. Here, let…let me show you, I have some of the same photos." Bobby reached back to pull out his wallet.

"And don't tell me, Alex had you as the "Man of Honor." Sarah grinned at the thought of Bobby standing up with Alex.

"Don't laugh; she was threatening me up until the rehearsal. I was one of the groomsmen's for Andy though."

Bobby handed Sarah his wallet, the first picture was one of Alex with her nephew. "That was taken about three months ago."

"Wow, he's really getting big, isn't he?"

"He sure is, and smart. Alex brought him to work one Saturday for a couple of hours. I didn't get any work done. Maybe he'll have a little cousin to play with soon."

"Wait, Alex isn't…"

"Hey, no, not that I know of, but then I wouldn't be the first to know…. The next two are the same pictures Alex has in the frames you sent."

The first photo was the classic wedding picture. It was Alex and Andy holding hands, showing off their rings and beaming up at each other.

"Oh wow. Alex and Andy look really nice together too."

"Yeah, Alex is very happy. Andy is perfect for her. They're a great match."

The next photo was one of the entire wedding party. The bride and groom were at the top of the stairs flanked by their attendants. She recognized Andy's brother, Dean and his business partner Eric and then of course, Bobby. Alex's sister, Lesley had been her maid of honor, but the two other women Sarah didn't recognize.

"The second woman is Dean's wife, Melissa and the other is an old friend from the police academy, Mary something-or-other."

Sarah thought it was sweet and a little sad that Bobby would carry so many pictures of Alex's life in his wallet. She wondered if Alex knew. She was flipping through his wallet, flicking each plastic sleeve over as they talked. She recognized several of the pictures in his wallet from when they were dating. Bobby reached across the table to stop her, but it was too late. As he did, she looked down and saw a picture of her and Bobby in Central Park.

She stared at it. She remembered the day they had done this. She had persuaded Bobby to take some pictures of the two of them. They had burned through four rolls of film and come away with a dozen or so great pictures. Bobby thought that was a horrible return on the almost 100 photos. Sarah tried reassuring him that professional photographers burned through twice that much film to get one good photo they could use.

This one was a picture of the two of them sitting on a blanket in front of the camera. Sarah was sitting in front of him, leaning back and turning to look up at him as he leaned forward looking down at her. They both had big grins on their faces. Sarah remembered that after this picture, they had kissed for a very long time.

Sarah sat motionless, frozen and staring down at the photo. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak. If she did any one of those things, she'd fall apart. After what seemed like hours, but really what was only a few seconds, Sarah was able to say, "Hum… that was a good day. We had a few of those, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we did, more than a few." Bobby rose and came over to take the wallet from her. "Um, um I should get going. Tomorrow's going to be another long day and I'll probably get lost on the way back to the hotel. I didn't intend to take up so much of your evening. I… I didn't really intend anything. I … needed to get out of the hotel and get some air, clear my head a little."

"Oh sure… the time change is also a lot to deal with too." Sarah stood and walked with Bobby to the door. She opened the door and after stepping outside, Bobby turned around and started to speak, and then stopped. Sarah filled the silence, "Um… so how long are you going to be in town?"

"We're not even sure why we're here; let alone how long we're going to be here. Probably just another day or two. The way things shaped up today, I can't imagine what they need us for."

"Well, I'd love to see Alex and Andy while they're here. Maybe if it works out, we could all get together for dinner or something, before you head back to New York?"

"We'll have to play it by ear, but let me run it by Alex and Andy. I'm sure they'd both like to see you again too."

"Um, well if you guys are free tomorrow night, there's a preview of "And Justice For All" at the Westwood Theater. It's not a big deal or anything, but it should be fun. There's a little after-party at a nearby restaurant. It's not going to be a star-studded affair, but I think most of the actors from the movie will be there. It's at 7 o'clock. The studio gave me about a dozen free tickets and I think I have about a dozen left. Let me know if it sounds like it's something you guys might want to do. You could give me a call. Do you still have my number?"

"Um, unless you've changed it in the last few months, I've still got it on my cell." Bobby remembered how reluctant Sarah had been to give him her phone number when they first met.

"Well, then you have it, I haven't changed it. So … I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I've been nervous about it. Having some friends there would be nice. So… tomorrow, maybe? Good night, Bobby. It really was good to see you. I'm glad you came by."

"Good night Sarah." Bobby leaned down a little awkwardly and kissed her on the cheek. Her hand reached up to his cheek. As Bobby turned and walked to his car, Sarah again said, "Good night, Bobby."

Sarah closed the door, turned back to lean against it. As she slid down to sit on the floor, Sammy came over and laid his head on her leg and Sarah absently reached out and started scratching his ears. "Well Sammy, that was the infamous Bobby. What did you think? Pretty special, huh? He still has my number on his cell phone. What should we think about that?"

Bobby drove back downtown slowly. Well that had been nice and it had beenn awkward, he thought. So far, nothing tonight had helped the feeling of claustrophobia he was feeling. From the moment he heard the sound of Sarah's voice calling out for Sammy he'd just wanted to step back in time and grab, hold her close and not let go. She'd looked the same, only better. In a comparison like that, he knew he came off looking worse than before. An old knee injury from his army days had kept him off his treadmill for far too long and his weight had crept up several pounds. He kept threatening to do something about it, but hadn't been motivated enough to follow through with it so far. His hair was rapidly going gray. There difference in age was becoming very apparent. He knew he didn't look like the Bobby she'd left behind in New York.

Pulling into the parking structure, Bobby was surprised to see he was able to park in the same space the car had occupied earlier. That wouldn't have happened in New York. Locking the door and pocketing the keys, Bobby walked across the street to the hotel. It was almost 11 o'clock and Bobby had yet to set foot in his room. Tomorrow really was going to be a long day. Now all Bobby wanted to do was crash, get some sleep, jump through whatever hoops the cops and the FBI had for them and get back to New York.

As he walked across the lobby, he heard a voice address him. "Have a good night, Mr. Goren?"

Bobby turned and saw Felix leaning against the front desk. "Yes, I guess I did. Thanks Felix. You work the night shift around here?"

"No, not usually, I stayed to cover a sick call, I'm off in a few minutes, at midnight. I'm counting down to snuggling with my girl and getting about 10 hours sleep before coming back here tomorrow."

"Good luck with that." Bobby said as he walked to the elevator. He had the elevator to himself as he rode up to his tenth floor room. Pacing back and forth in the small box as it slowly ascended, he felt as if the walls were closing in on him. As the doors opened on his floor, he bolted out, practically gasping for air. He'd always had a touch of claustrophobia, especially when he was feeling anxious like he was now.

He let himself into his room for the first time and looked around. It was a typical businessman's room, sparsely furnished, with workmanlike pieces of furniture: a queen size bed, night stand, chair, desk with internet connection and a TV cabinet with drawers for anyone wanting to unpack and not live out of a suitcase.

He found his suitcase sitting at the foot of the bed and saw that his suit bag had been hung up the closet. He walked over to his suitcase and rummaged around for his kit bag. Finding it he removed his suit jacket, hung it across the back of the desk chair, and threw his tie over that. Pulling his shirttail from his pants he walked over to the sink. Staring at his reflection, he brushed his teeth. Not for the first time he thought about the choices he'd made. Choices more often made with others in mind - he'd walked away from the military career he'd envisioned for himself when his mother's illness worsened and she needed someone to help her. His father and his brother wouldn't or couldn't get their lives under control enough to help her, so it had fallen to Bobby to come back from overseas to help her. He was glad he'd done that. His decision to join the NYPD had turned out to be a good one. It allowed him to keep his life ordered, disciplined and under control. The job had proven to be his salvation and a blessing, but also a curse. It had made it easy for him to isolate and insulate himself from others. He thought about one of the few other serious relationships he'd had, Irene Chaplin, and where that relationship might have led to if he hadn't walked away. He thought about Sarah and where that relationship might have led to if he hadn't pushed her away. Both women had seemed able to accept him on his terms; he was the one who didn't seem to be able to accept his terms. He wanted more than he would allow himself. He understood the contradictions and the barriers he used to allow him to keep his distance.

Splashing his face with cold water, he growled out his frustration. Without bothering to unbutton his shirt, he pulled it up over his head and turned the water on for a shower. Climbing in he turned the water as hot as he could stand and let it beat down on his shoulders, trying to relax himself. He had to get some sleep.

Wrapping himself in the hotel's robe he laid down on the bed, arm flung over his eyes, hoping to be able to get a few hours sleep before morning. Behind his closed eyelids, he saw Sarah's face and within minutes, he had fallen asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 8

He awoke to the sound of his cell phone's alarm chirping at him. 6:45. He sat up and noticed the coffee maker. He got up and filled the carafe with water to start brewing some coffee. Sitting at the foot of the bed, he flicked on the TV to catch the local news. All he was able to find was celebrity news and traffic advisories. After running up and down the channels, he flipped the TV off. Grabbing one of the cups provided by the hotel he poured himself a cup of coffee to drink as he got dressed for the day. He'd just finished his coffee when he cell phone rang. Reaching across the bed he picked up, "Yeah,Goren."

"Good morning Bobby, you alone?" Alex asked.

"What?" With a disgusted snort he added, "Yeah, the call girls left about ten minutes ago."

"Well, how am to know? You take off and go look for Sarah. You and she might have hooked up again. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch ..."

"Stop it, Alex. How? How did you know? Did Andy cave?"

"No, Andy didn't cave. I knew as soon as we found out we were coming out to L.A. you'd be going. But I didn't think you'd go out to see her our first night in town. But when I saw you come back and get the keys from Andy, I knew knew where you'd be going. You forget, I'm a pretty good detective, and I do know you pretty well, Bobby Goren. Are you ready to eat?"

"Yeah, I was just on my way downstairs. I'll meet you by the restaurant in a few minutes."

Breakfast turned out to be a quick start to the day. They had barely placed their breakfast order when LAPD officers Jack Hawkins and Steve Jenkins arrived to take the two NYPD officers back to central division headquarters. The two accepted coffee and waited until they'd eaten. The kitchen wasn't busy and they got their food quickly.

Bobby took a last gulp of coffee as he stood and grabbed the check. He walked up to the cashier as Detectives Hawkins and Jenkins followed. This left Alex and Andy alone to say a quick goodbye to each other.

"Tony DaSilva was released last night. As of now we don't have a suspect in the Laura Nelson's death. But he is no longer considered a person of interest."

Bobby turned to look at Hawkins, "Is that suppose to come as a surprise to me? I saw the interview you did. It didn't seem like you really believed he was a suspect then, even though you kept up the interrogation. Whose bright idea was it?"

"You're right, we didn't think he'd done it. It was Jarvis and Caldwell, they were pushing DaSilva as the primary suspect. I'm sure they wanted to get a quick arrest to ally any suspicion or fear that her death was at the hands of the "Cross Country' killer. The media's going crazy with the similarities between the M.O.'s."

Hawkins looked at his partner, who merely nodded, "We're going to be upfront with you. We're not getting this at all. This whole task force dog and pony show and the Feds wanting to work the 'Cross Country' killer angle together - when do the Feds ever want to work something together with local cops? Why were you two, NYPD officers flown out here to help with it?"

"Nothing about this fits any scenario we can think of." Jenkins added and then asked, "We were watching you and your partner yesterday, and we can tell you're not buying any of this either. Have either of you figured out what the game is? What the Feds are doing here?"

Bobby shook his head, "Eames and I haven't really talked about it too much, but we know things are not what they seem. We weren't summoned here for the Nelson case or even the "Cross Country Killer" angle, but something else. What that's going to be, I'm haven't been able to figure out find out today, but guess is as good as mine." Alex joined them and the four cops left to make the fifteen minute drive to the Central Division offices.

Skipping over yet another cup of coffee or a muffin, Goren grabbed an apple from one of the baskets in the conference room and turned back to survey the conference room and it's occupants. The four federal investigators sat at one end of the table, all peering closely at the contents of a single open file folder. Bobby wondered if it had anything to do with the case they were purportedly her to work on.

The four LAPD officers were over on the other side of the room, hanging out and joking around about one of Hollywood's elite celebrities that was arrested last night on yet another drug charge. The consensus was the guy would get probation again and then do another high profile rehab stint. Once rehabbed and released he'd get out and find his once flagging career, suddenly hot again. Ironically, it gave celebrities a second chance once they'd been in trouble with the law. In the real world, those second chances didn't happen for most people who'd run up against it.

Alex walked over to join Bobby while they all waited for Jarvis and Caldwell to show up. "So, what did Jenkins have to say to you this morning? Do they have any more idea what's going on than we do?"

"Nope." Goren leaned back against the table and stretched his legs out in front of him. Taking a bite from the apple, he asked, "What do you think of those two, Jenkins and Hawkins?"

"They seem like a couple of sharp guys. The interview with DaSilva was good even though he lawyer-ed up before they could get a confession."

"You think DaSilva did it?"

"No, but you could have gotten the guy to confess whether he did it or not." Eames jokingly punched her partner on the shoulder and walked over get a bottle of water as Goren rolled his eyes and shook his head as she walked away. Knowing that Goren had watched her, she turned around and waggled the bottled water, silently asking Goren if he wanted one. He nodded affirmatively just as the door to the conference room opened and Jarvis and Caldwell came in.

"If everyone could grab a chair, we have an update for you all." said Jarvis. "I'm sure you've all heard by now that Vince DaSilva has been released. And as of now, we no longer feel he is a person of interest in the death of Laura Nelson."

Pausing to see what effect this news had on everyone he wasn't surprised to see resigned acknowledgement in everyone's eyes. "LAPD has decided to reassign John Sampson and Jane Denham as primary detectives on the Nelson case." seeing the surprised looks exchanged by Hawkins and Jenkins, he quickly added, "Jack, Steve hold on."

Caldwell spoke up and said, "That's right detectives. As for my team, we're pulling you out completely and we'll continue working on the 'Cross Country' slayings from our downtown office. Why don't you guys pack up and head back now." Now there were confused looks all around as the FBI team left the conference room.

Chief of detectives Jarvis spoke up again, "Sampson, Denham, come with me. We're going to work out of my office. I'm staying very involved in this one so, the three of us will be the primary team in this investigation at the request of the police commissioner and the mayor. Even though it doesn't appear to be the work of the 'Cross Country' killer it's still a high profile case, given the DaSilva connection and Monogram Pictures. So, let's go. All the files have already been taken to my office upstairs."

Caldwell remained quiet as Sampson, Denham and Jarvis left the room. That left the detective teams of Hawkins and Jenkins, and Goren and Eames pondering their place in this.

"well, okay. I'm sure you're all wondering what this is all about. Especially you, Goren, since you called me out on it yesterday. This is what it's all about… this woman right here…" Caldwell opened the folder in front of him and withdrew two undercover photo arrays of six shots of one woman and passed one along to each team of detectives. She had long dark brown hair, and a petite frame. "Any one have any ideas of who she may be?" A pause and shaking of heads greeted his question. "Goren?"

"Nope, doesn't look familiar to me. Why do you think I would recognize her?"

"We have reason to believe this woman has undergone extensive reconstructive surgery to hide her identity. We have very good reason to believe this woman is Nicole Wallace."

"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. Count me out! I'm done with that one." Bobby was shaking his head 'no' and waving the notion away.

"Me too." Alex said as she looked at the photos more closely.

"Who's Nicole Wallace?" Hawkins and Jenkins asked in unison.

"Here's her file. It consists of information from Australian law enforcement agencies and several files from the NYPD's Major Case Squad. Goren and Eames were the primary detectives for all the major case investigations."

"This woman," Caldwell waved the photo of Nicole as he spoke, "she first came to our attention about a year ago in Phoenix. While we don't have a pre-op picture of her in Arizona to compare with this picture, we have information from a source within the clinic, that this woman used a New York driver's license issued in the name of Nicole Haynes. It didn't take much for us to find out that before her marriage Nicole Haynes last name had been Wallace. She married and had been divorced by a man by the name of…"

"Gavin Haynes." Eames and Goren both said his name.

"Right, Gavin Haynes. That led to information about Nicole Wallace's trial and her acquittal on murder charges. Which in turn led us to check out all her dealings with the NYPD and her supposed involvement in several other unresolved cases and her incarceration in Thailand at JatuJak Prison."

"Now she's going by the name of Veronica Daniels. What originally brought her to our attention was she began seeing a man in Phoenix that we had under investigation for possible gun and drug smuggling. We believe that she somehow compromised his standing within the group he was working with. Three months ago, he disappears and Veronica Daniels surfaces in Los Angeles. A month and a half ago the skeleton of our subject was found in the Arizona desert."

"It is because of your past dealings with Nicole Wallace that had us to bring you out to Los Angeles. Your Chief of Detectives and DA's office worked with us, knowing that neither of you were likely to volunteer to become involved in another case dealing with Nicole Wallace."

"That's for sure." Eames broke in sarcastically.

"This isn't just another run of the mill smuggling operation. We've been able to trace shipments of these guns to al-Qaeda sympathizers, so you can see the national security implications. We need to find out, who this woman is, and if she is a part of the smuggling op or has any information about the smuggling ring. As I said, we're fairly certain that she is Nicole Wallace. If she is, we think we have enough leverage to turn her. If she's not Nicole, we need to find out who she is. And find a way to get her help."

"Good luck with that. If she is Nicole, the only one she's out to save is herself. She'll never, never give it up. You won't turn her. You won't break her." Goren said as he stood. "Nicole is only out for herself. She's not political or ideological. She may have had something to do with the death of your smuggler, but she's not part of any smuggling ring."

"Sit down, Detective. You won't be allowed to leave the building, so you might as well."

"Are you telling he, you're holding us here until we agree to do this?"

"Well, at least until you hear me out. But yeah, that's basically the situation, so please sit down Detective. I think that once you hear me out, you won't be so anxious to walk out that door." Caldwell stood his ground blocking the door.

Goren swung around and looked at the other detectives. The two LAPD detectives just sat there. Eames sighed and just said, "Bobby, come on, sit down."

"Eames. Come on. You're not buying into …"

"Bobby, I don't know what I'm buying into yet or not, but ….." Eames said it in that tone she got when she really wanted to get his attention. He plopped back into his chair as Caldwell continued.

"As I said, she, I'm going to refer to her as Nicole, turned up here in L.A. three months ago. So far, she's spent thousands of dollars that were most likely raided from our smuggler's stash outfitting herself in the latest designer clothes, frequenting the same clubs the L.A. power brokers do and ingratiating herself with them. Recently she's taken up with Phillip DaSilva, and as you may remember from yesterday's briefing, he's the President and CEO of Monogram Pictures."

That got the attention of all four detectives. But for very different reasons. The Los Angeles Detectives were sensitive to the Hollywood community and DaSilva was one of the few to have maintained a presence in the fickle world of Hollywood for decades. Plus, there was the little fact that the two detectives had just interrogated his younger son in the death of his girlfriend. Goren and Eames knew of Monogram because that was the studio that was turning Sarah's book, "And Justice For All" into a movie.

"Working backwards we've been able to come up with what we believe is a fairly accurate chronology of Nicole's life, thanks mostly to the work of Goren and Eames and the Australian authorities. We learned about her time in a JatuJak district prison in Thailand and her boyfriend, Bernard Fremont. We have her history from Australia and England. And her multiple run-ins with you two. You two came up with a remarkable profile. And more than enough solid evidence that should have sent her to prison for a very long time. How that jury could have come back with a not guilty verdict does make me question my faith in the jury system. You should have had her in a slam dunk."

"We thought so." Alex interjected.

"So we thought what two better people to tell us whether or not Veronica Daniels and Nicole Wallace are the same person."

Detective Jenkins spoke up, "If she is Nicole Wallace, then she would know Eames and Goren by sight and avoid them making it impossible to make the ID."

"Not necessarily. From her past interactions with Detectives Eames and Goren, especially Detective Goren she might feel compelled to 'toy' with the detectives, to see if they could discover who she is. We weren't sure how we were going to pull off a face to face. At least until last night."

Turning to change his focus, he looked straight at Goren and asked, "Detective, during the time of your dealings with Nicole Wallace, did she ever have occasion to meet or get to know Sarah Stevens?"

"Sarah? No, no they never met. How do you know about Sarah? Did you have me followed last night?"

Not bothering to answer, Caldwell continued, "in the last several weeks both Sarah Stevens and Veronica Daniels have become quite friendly. They've lunched together several times and have had dinners with the DaSilva family at their home. Also, several times at Ms Stevens home, as recently as last weekend. It does seem like more than a coincidence that Nicole would start hanging out with your ex-girlfriend. You say they never met, but would Nicole have been aware of Sarah Stevens and her connection to you?"

Goren and Eames looked at each other. Nicole had done her share of research into the lives of the two detectives. She knew about Eame's father's trouble with the city and the restituition he'd had to pay, her mother's stroke, Eame's surrogacy on behalf of her brother and his wife. She knew about Goren's family issues; his parent's divorce, his mother's illness, his estrangement from his father and brother. Surely she had known about Sarah, even though Nicole had never mentioned that in any of their interviews although she had mentioned everything else. It hadn't been necessary. She only played the cards she needed to. She would have kept several in reserve.

"Yeah," Bobby admitted. "She… it's possible. I'm sure you know that too. Nicole wasn't in New York when Michael DeVry went on his killing spree, but it made several of the tabloids at the time. It wouldn't have taken much for her to find out about Sarah or our relationship. Nicole never said anything about it, never played on that. She could have been saving it for another go-round."

"Detective, other than last night when was the last time you had any contact of any kind with Sarah Stevens?"

Looking down at the tabletop and his folded hands, tightly clasped to keep him from slamming them into the table and turning his rage on Caldwell for the invasions of privacy - his and Sarah's. Drawing a deep breath, Bobby said, "You did have me followed. Well, I haven't seen, spoken to, or corresponded with Sarah in over a year. Last night was the first time either of has had any contact with the other."

"Yes, I did have you followed, but really whether or not I had you followed is redundant since Ms. Stevens has been under surveillance for the last month. And now that you have an invitation to attend the movie premiere and after-party tonight we have our first chance to verify our suspicions about Veronica/Nicole."

"You have Sarah's house bugged, too? Is… is she suspected of some kind of involvement in this?"

"Let's just say until we determine otherwise, she is a person of interest."

Bobby stood and shouted "A person of interest? Looking at the information you've dug up about Nicole, based mostly on work that my partner and I done, you've also looked into the background of Sarah and know without doubt that she is not a 'person of interest' in this."

"Detective, everyone who comes into contact with Veronica or Nicole or whichever name you want to refer to her as, is a person of interest until we, the United States Government determine otherwise."

Caldwell wasn't enjoying this but he knew it was necessary to get Goren on his team. Taking a minute to let things calm down a little, he quietly continued, "We need you to accept Ms. Stevens invitation to attend the premiere for you and your partner. Detective Eames we'd like you to accompany Detective Goren, but without your husband. You could explain his absence to Ms Stevens to a business meeting he needed to attend. Ms. Stevens was going to furnish you with three tickets to the event, so hopefully getting one more shouldn't be too difficult, because we'd like both detectives Hawkins and Jenkins to attend as well."

"I'm not going to involve or use Sarah to …"

"Unfortunately, she's already involved Detective. If there's any way to keep her from getting more involved with what's going on, it's going to be by removing Veronica/Nicole from the equation. You can help uninvolve her, though."

"I'm going to need you to call Ms. Stevens and see about getting those tickets. So, I suggest the rest of us take a few minutes to grab a cigarette or some coffee while Detective Goren figures out how to handle the call to Ms. Stevens."

Detectives Hawkins and Jenkins got up and excused themselves from the room. Caldwell looked from Goren to Eames and said, "Make him see it's the only way."

After Caldwell left the conference room, Eames looked at Bobby and just shook her head. "I don't know what to say here. I can six things going on here and a dozen ways each scenario could conceivably blow up in the Feds faces."

"And in more than one of them, Sarah winds up getting hurt. If this is," Bobby reached out to pick up the photos Caldwell had handed them, "Nicole, regardless of whether she's involved or knows what's going on with the arms smuggling, she could still be looking to get back at me, by hurting Sarah or by using Sarah to draw me out.

Bobby had gotten up and was pacing back and forth. "What's it gonna take to be rid of Nicole for good?"

"Bobby I don't know. But, maybe doing this for the Feds, is the only way. Especially if Veronica Daniels is Nicole. Because if she is, I think you're right, that eventually she'll go after Sarah."

"Alex," Bobby hardly ever referred to her as 'Alex' so she knew that what was coming out next, was going to be a personal admission from him. "Last night, um, last night was … I don't think I can see her again, last night was not good. And… I can't use her like this. And when she finds out…"

"I know. I do, I know. I really don't think there's any other way. If we do this, we can do what we can to keep Sarah out of it as much as possible. If it goes the other way, she may not be so lucky."

"How… how do I explain it to her? She has to know the truth. I can't lie to her. And Caldwell isn't going to want me telling her what's going on." Shaking his head, he muttered, "a person of interest."

"We'll find a way. Bobby. We will. I can call her and set this up, but you're going to have to see her. We can't leave Sarah hanging like this. There is an outside chance that she could be in serious danger and if something happens and we could have done something…."

"I know… I know. But... I'll call her. I'll call her. I'll do it."

"You should call her now though, before the others come back. Um… I'll go outside and keep the others out."


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

Bobby stared at the cell phone in his hand and the number displayed on the screen. Drawing a deep breath and exhaling he hit the 'send' key. Three rings… four rings… damn, it was going to go to her voice mail.

Breathlessly, Sarah answered the phone, "Hello, I'm here. Don't hang up, I'm here."

"Just in the nick of time. Hi Sarah, it's Bobby. Hope this isn't a bad time?"

"Phew, no it's fine. I'd just gone outside to check the mail. Had to run back in. You'd think that someone who jogs three miles a day could run 100 feet to answer a ringing phone without getting breathless."

"What's up? Are you calling to confirm you guys coming out to the premiere tonight, I hope, I hope." she laughed as she collapsed on the couch.

"Well, actually yes. It doesn't look like it's going to work out with Andy's schedule though, but Alex is excited about the idea. I also thought I'd check to see how you're holding up. So, how are you holding up?"

Sarah exclaimed excitedly, "Woohoo! This is going to be great! I'm sorry about Andy not being able to come, but I'm so happy that you and Alex are going to be able to make it."

"The butterflies are out in force, so a couple of friends in the audience will be a big plus. I have to keep reminding myself to breathe. I'm a little nervous. I'm trying to get all my stuff gathered up. The studio is sending over a limo about three to take me to, and I quote, 'one of the most exclusive salons in the city' to get me presentable enough to attend this thing tonight. If I survive that ordeal, tonight should be a piece of cake."

"You'll be fine. And you don't need 'one of the most exclusive salons in the city'. You always looked great and you still do."

Laughing, "I look ok for a real person, I don't have the 'celebrity' look that seems to be mandatory out here. But thank you, Robert. I appreciate that, even if you're just trying to help me stay calm."

"About tonight though, I was wondering, if there was any chance that we could bring along a couple of guys we've been working with out here. I'm sure they'd get as much of a kick out of it as Alex will. They've been really helpful, dealing with the LAPD."

"Sure, that's not a problem. How many more tickets do you want? They gave me something like twenty tickets and I think including the ones for you and Alex, I've handed out about six. They'd better not count on me providing a full house for the premiere. Um, I guess that the easiest thing to do would be for me to leave them at the box office for you and we can… "

"Um, I was hoping to be able to come by and pick them up, you have them with you, right?" He had to talk to Sarah and find out what he could about this Veronica Daniels. Was she Nicole? He needed to warn Sarah that she might be in danger. He knew he'd have to sneak this by the Feds and LA cops. Maybe even Alex.

"Um, well I guess you can come by and pick them up, that just seems like a lot of extra trouble, it would be just as easy to for you to pick them up at the theater, but however you want to do it, is fine. So like I said earlier, I'll be home until about three, so if you can get here before then sure, come on by and pick them up."

"What if I were to come in about an hour? Will that work with your schedule? We've been cut loose for the day, so I can drive over now."

"Wow, and you thought it was going to be another long day trapped in meetings. Ok, that will get you here about lunchtime. We could eat. Just something simple, sandwiches, a salad. Is Alex going to be with you?"

"Alex said something about going shopping. She said she didn't bring anything appropriate to wear to a premiere."

"Well, I have to admit, I had to go buy something appropriate too. I don't have dressy clothes just hanging around in my wardrobe either." Sarah listened to Bobby breathing into the phone. "Are you still there, Bobby?"

"Yeah, Sarah, sorry. Someone was showing me something. Um… lunch would be great. Maybe we could take it out on the beach and I can work on my tan for a little bit. You know, everyone back in New York is going to expect Alex and I to come back with a nice tan."

"Well, if not on the beach, at least on the deck. I'll have a little something ready by the time you get here. It'll help keep me occupied and stop me from obsessing about tonight."

"Great. I'll see you in a little while." Bobby slapped his phone closed. He was going to have to be very careful the next few minutes. He hoped that the FBI wasn't actively monitoring the phone tap they would have on Sarah's phone. If they we, he was dead. Hopefully, they were relying on tapes that would be transcribed later.

He got up and opened the conference room door. In the corridor, the others were standing in a cluster drinking coffee. "We're all set. I just need to go over to Sarah's place to pick up the tickets."

"Hawkins can drive you over and when you two get back, we'll go over what we're looking for tonight."

"Sarah invited Alex and I over for lunch. I think we should stay and eat with her. I did give Alex an out though, saying she had to get something appropriate to wear tonight. But I don't know about taking Hawkins over for lunch." Bobby watched Caldwell as he laid this all out.

"All right, you're on your own Goren. Don't make me regret that." He knew that Goren had capitulated too easily. But everything he'd read about Goren gave him confidence that even though his methods may be unorthodox, he wouldn't do anything to put the investigation in jeopardy. Especially if there was a chance that Veronica Daniels was Nicole Wallace.

--

Sarah hung up the phone and stared at it. After Bobby left last night, she regretted babbling out the invitation to the premiere. Especially when she saw the look on Bobby's face when she'd said it. He looked pained at the thought. A look she attributed to the weirdness factor of them both trying to pretend that seeing each other was anything other than, well, just plain weird. She hadn't intended to put him on the spot like that, but a part of her was so nervously, giddily happy to see him, she hadn't been able to stop herself.

She was filled with feelings of missed opportunities. Seeing him again last night so unexpectedly and without warning forced her to admit the she wasn't over that relationship at all. If she were as over it as she kept telling herself, she wouldn't have been so happy to see him, once she got past the initial shock of it. She could avoid his phone calls, not return his calls all she wanted. That didn't prove that she had moved on, which she obviously hadn't. If she had, would she really have kept Tony DaSilva at arms length for months now? He'd made it clear that he was interested in pursuing a more personal relationship, and yet every time he broached the subject, she had made it clear that she valued their professional relationship and even their personal friendship, but she wasn't interested in pursuing a romantic one. He gracefully accepted her rejection, but also made it clear that he wasn't going to give up. She couldn't get over the feeling that she was cheating on Bobby.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

Bobby and Hawkins walked down to the motor pool to get a car for Bobby to drive out to Santa Monica.

After Hawkins had signed out the car and dropped the keys into Bobby's outstretched hand, he said, "You know the more your friend Sarah knows the more danger she'll be in if Veronica Daniels if this Nicole is the person the Feds think she is. Letting a civilian get involved in an ongoing investigation, one that has national security implications is …"

Bobby turned to look at Hawkins, "Is irresponsible. It's also unconscionable. What no one seems to be taking into consideration is that the Feds were the ones to do that. Caldwell knew what he was doing when he had my partner and I brought out here. He's using me to get to Sarah and using Sarah to get to Nicole.

Sarah is not and could not be involved in anything like the Feds think. But she is capable of helping us, but to do that she needs to know the truth, and she needs to know that the Feds suspect her of complicity with Nicole. She Without Sarah's help, we will never discover if Veronica is Nicole. Sarah needs to be informed to be able to protect herself. If it were that much of a problem, Caldwell would never let me near her. He knew when he told me about Nicole and Sarah, what I'd do."

"If Veronica Daniels is Nicole Wallace, she is capable of anything. She will use anyone. She will say and do whatever it takes to further her aims and to achieve her goals. She will flatter, cajole, threaten and charm anyone in her way. I've seen her work, the lives she's ruined. She won't to be easy to trip up or turn. The FBI may have read the case files, but I was there. I saw her in action, I've actually talked with her and if this woman is Nicole, they have no idea how to deal with her."

Bobby ran through several scenarios on how to bring up the situation with Sarah. He didn't have a clear plan in mind by the time he reached the beach. Turning off the engine, Bobby stared up at the house as he gripped the top of the steering wheel with both hands. The dark blue van parked up the street looked out of place. That had to be the FBI surveillance team. He sat staring at it until he saw Sarah open the front door and walk down the driveway.

As Bobby started to get out of the car, Sarah shouted, "I thought that might be you. I was worried that you'd changed your mind. It's okay, if you have. I'd understand." Sarah's voice got quieter as she got closer to the car, so that by the time she reached the car, she was almost whispering.

"No, that's not it. I… I was thinking about a case and…"

"So, you're still coming inside for lunch?"

"Lunch? Yes, absolutely."

"And the premiere, tonight?"

"Yep, and the premiere tonight."

Sarah's whole body language changed, Bobby could see the tension evaporate. "You're really nervous about tonight, aren't you?"

"Oh, absolutely, and getting worse by the second." Sarah motioned for Bobby to follow her. "Come on up, I've set lunch up on the deck."

As they came around to the beach side of the condo, Bobby saw the table set up for lunch. Looking around at the beach, Bobby could see that it was almost empty. He decided to come right out with it, the straight forward approach and total honesty always worked best with Sarah.

Bobby held a finger up to his lips, signally Sarah to be quiet, and then motioned for her to come follow him while silently mouthing, "come with me…"

"Bobby what's going on?" she said as she followed him.

"Let's go for a walk down by the water before lunch. I'd like to stretch my legs a little before sitting down again."

"Well, sure, we have a little time. Let me get Sammy. If I head out down the beach without him, I'll be in so much trouble." Sarah grinned and went inside to call for her dog.

Sammy took off up the beach at a run while Bobby and Sarah angled down to the water. Bobby walked with hands clasped behind his back and Sarah could tell he was tense. More than once he turned to look behind them. Sarah was curious and even a little worried.

"Bobby, is something wrong? Are you all right?" Looking back over her shoulder, Sarah was beginning to feel concern.

Bobby didn't answer, but he did reach out and take her arm by the elbow to urge her closer to the water line. "I don't have much time, so I need you to listen carefully Sarah. This whole trip out to L.A. for Alex and I was part of an investigation the FBI is running on illegal arms trading with links to al-Qaeda. One of the major players disappeared. His remains appear to have been found in the Arizona desert. He was involved with a woman the FBI is convinced is Nicole Wallace. Do you remember her?"

"Nicole Wallace." Sarah thought back to when Bobby and she had first started seeing each other. Alex and Bobby had been lead detectives in the murder of a university professor that Nicole had been the primary suspect. They had discovered a trail of disappearances and mysterious deaths in her wake. She had evaded them in that case and at least one other, that she knew of.

"Yes, of course. I remember that the jury acquitted her of murder, even though you and Alex had plenty of evidence proving her guilt."

"Yeah, she did. The Feds are convinced she's had surgery and has moved here to L.A. using an alias. They think the name she's been using for the last few months is Veronica Daniels."

"Veronica Daniels?" Sarah looked shocked. "But, I know her. She's dating Phillip DaSilva and…"

"Yes. The two of you have become quite friendly, which has led the FBI to place you under surveillance and bug your phone. I'm sure the blue van up the street also has a directional mike and video camera recording everything that happens outside your condo."

"They're watching me and have my place bugged? Why? I haven't known her long. I don't know much about her. I've been friendly with her, because we've been thrown together at a few social occasions on behalf of Monogram."

"You've met for several lunches with her. She's been to your house, you've been to dinner with her and the DaSilvas. The FBI suspects that your connection with Veronica runs deeper than that."

Sarah's mind was swirling. "They suspect that I know that Veronica is Nicole and that I may be involved with the gun smuggling. But why? What about my past would lead them to think that?"

"There's no logic to it, but that's seems to be what they're thinking, but I can't figure out why either, unless…"

"… unless that's just the story they're telling you to get you to help them out with this. But why would they need a story? Why not just be upfront with you and Alex and ask for your help?"

"I don't know, but right now I have a bigger concern." Bobby looked around again, and even though he didn't see anyone, didn't mean they weren't being observed or overheard.

"What's that?" Sarah asked, even though she thought she knew what Bobby was going to say.

"Well, if Veronica Daniels turns out to be Nicole, she knows about you and your connection to me, she knows about our history. I never told you, there didn't seem to be any reason, Nicole was out to get me, what she knew was never about hurting you, but a way to get to me. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to, to … worry, especially after everything that DeVry had done to manipulate and control you. Nicole did a lot of research into both Eames's background and mine. She knew about my family, my father, my mother's health, my brother …"

"But the FBI agent-in-charge, a guy by the name of Caldwell, brought Eames and I out here, hoping we'd be able to confirm whether or not Veronica is Nicole..."

"But if she's had that much surgery… Sarah started to ask.

"Her mannerisms, speech pattern, maybe her accent is still the ….

"She doesn't have an accent." Sarah interrupted. "Her speech is very flat."

"… and my coming over here the other night, gave them the idea to use the premiere as a way to get Eames and I close to Veronica. I had no idea that by coming over here I'd be giving the Feds added leverage."

"So, since she knows about our history, if Veronica is Nicole, it wouldn't be unbelievable that you might be there. If she is Nicole."

"Exactly. But I had to come here to let you know that there's the possibility that if she is Nicole, you could be in danger. I had to let you know that it's a real possibility. Really the Feds aren't the problem and if anything it's probably a good thing that they've been around, if anything had happened they would have been here to help you, and they still will be. I… I just couldn't keep this from you. I couldn't let them keep you in the dark about all this. You have the right to know what you might be getting into and even though I think the Feds aren't seriously looking at you for any involvement with the arms smuggling, they're not going to compromise their investigation by taking you into their confidence."

"But they know we're meeting, and they have to assume you were going to do exactly what you have and tell me what's going on."

"Yeah…"

"So, if their investigation falls apart now, you'll take the hit for its failure. The agent in charge…."

"Caldwell." Bobby supplied his name.

"….Caldwell will have deniability, but if it's a success he'll still get the official recognition."

"Right. Look, I need to get the tickets from you can get back down to Alex. She and I have a few things to figure out about tonight."

"Um… sure, they're back at the house." They turned back to walk to the house. Sarah and Bobby were walking in silence. All the time they'd been talking Sammy had been bounding up the beach and then back to them and then back up the beach, repeating the circuit several times, now Sarah called Sammy over. Sammy seemed to sense her emotional state and chose this time to obey her call. He came right up to her side and calmly walked back with her and Bobby.

"Do you have time for lunch?" Sarah asked as they walked up the steps to the deck.

"Well …" Bobby hesitated.

"You really need to get back to Alex. I understand." Wiping her hands on the leg of her jeans Sarah looked up at Bobby as she said, "I'll just run inside and get the tickets, then." Sarah understood all right. He hadn't wanted to have lunch with her. He'd just been feeling a duty to warn her about the possible danger. It hadn't been personal. It had just been business.

Sarah opened the envelop that held the tickets and took out four. At least she knew where he stood. He hadn't pretended otherwise, she had just been hopeful.

"Here you go." Sarah said as she came back out onto the deck.

"Thanks. Look, even though the FBI probably knows that I've told you everything, you need to go about your day as if nothing's happened. Do you think you can do that?

Sarah didn't answer, she continued staring out at the water.

Grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him, he asked her again, "Sarah, can you do that?"

Slowly her eyes focused and she nodded and said, "Yes, I think I can. Yes, I'll be fine." She turned to walk him back out to his car.

As Bobby walked around the car and opened the door he said, "Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If I hadn't…"

She looked up at him and saw the torment in his eyes. She closed her eyes and exhaled before saying, "Oh, Bobby. Not everything is your fault. Neither of us is responsible for the terrible things others do, even when it affects us. We just do what we can, because that's who we are. I appreciate that you couldn't let me walk into tonight without knowing what's really going on."

"Go. Everything will be ok. I have some thinking to do too. I need to try to remember what I've told Veronica about my time in New York. If I ever mentioned you or Alex by name, anything that might trip her up if she is Nicole." Trying to put on a brave face, she grinned and added, "This is almost a welcome distraction from obsessing about the premiere tonight. It'll be fine, whatever happens, it'll be fine."

Bobby got in the car and watched Sarah walk back up the driveway and continue on around to the beach side of the condo. He started the engine, put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb. Driving past the dark blue van, he turned his gaze to it as he raised his hand to wave at the team of federal agents sitting in the cramped cargo area.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11

Alex stepped out of the shower as she thought about the last few hours. While Bobby had driven out to Santa Monica to warn Sarah and pick up the tickets for the premiere, Alex had used the time to go out and buy an outfit for the evening. She went to a Macy's store near the hotel and found a nice dress and shawl to wear. In another department she'd found a nice shoe and even a small handbag that was still roomy enough for her to carry her gun. As she charged the purchases to her card she thought again how easy Bobby and men in general had it. All they had to do was wear a suit or sport jacket, they even had the choice of tie or no tie. A suit was always appropriate for a man. Hardly ever was a suit appropriate for a woman at a social function.

She wasn't anticipating any trouble tonight, but it never hurt to be prepared. Tonight seemed more what the military referred to as preliminary recon exercise, not a strike force assault. For which she was quite happy about. Andy had been very upset about when she'd told him why the Feds had brought her and Bobby out to Los Angeles and how they planned to use the two detectives tonight at the movie premiere of "And Justice For All".

Male pride had won out over Alex's amply proved ability to take care of herself in any type of confrontation, and Andy had demanded to be allowed to go along with them tonight. Luckily for Alex, Bobby had already returned from picking up the four tickets they needed for her, Bobby and the two LA detectives. It was too late to get a ticket for him.

She was having problems zipping her new dress, so she called out to Andy to help her. When he didn't respond, her first thought was that he was sulking. She walked out of the bathroom to discover the room empty. She saw a note Andy had written letting her know that he'd gone downstairs to the bar, if she cared to join him before leaving for the theater in Westwood.

Alex put on the finishing touches of makeup and went down to join her husband for a drink. When she walked into the bar she found him sitting with their LAPD escorts, Hawkins and Jenkins.

Andy looked up as she approached and a smile crossed his face. While he may have been disappointed and distressed at how she and Bobby were being used by the Feds, he knew she was more than capable of looking out for herself and her partner. And, vice versa if it came to that. Anyone who could pull off the transformation from a hard and efficient New York City Detective to an attendee at a red carpet movie premiere in such a short period of time, was a person was capable of anything.

He stood and kissed her cheek as she took a seat next to him. Whispering in her ear one simple word, "Wow!"

She looked down at her hands on the table as she smiled and blushed.

"As I was saying, we have time for a drink before we need to be our way to Westwood. We've missed most of the rush hour traffic, but I'm sure around the theater is going to be crazy. There's some good buzz about the movie and that's going to bring out a crowd, even if they don't get to attend." Hawkins was a cop by inclination and nature, but a movie buff by avocation and interest.

"My partner's the LAPD's roving entertainment reporter." Jenkins added, jokingly.

"Anyone heard from Bobby?" Alex asked.

Andy answered, "I called him a few minutes ago. He'll be down in a few minutes." Then answering her unspoken question, adding, "He sounded fine."

The four chatted for about fifteen minutes before Bobby joined them. Instead of taking one of the offered chairs, Bobby asked, "Shouldn't we get going?" Alex could read the pent up nervousness in her partner's body language. She knew he'd be keyed up tonight with both Sarah and a supposed Nicole involved and she was concerned.

Looking at his watch, Jenkins agreed. "He's right, we'll be cutting it close. There's going to be a lot of traffic to navigate around. I'll have the valet to pull the car around."

He rose and went to pull out his wallet. Andy stopped him short. "No, I've got this one detective. You can get the next one."

"Thanks. That sounds fair."

Andy started to charge the tab to the room, but stopped when Alex reminded him the department was going to see any charges other than the room itself. Pulling out his credit card he wished everyone a good night and hoped they enjoyed themselves, while he was going to go upstairs and charge several adult films to the room. "Let the LAPD, NYPD and FBI make of that what they want." Andy muttered under his breath.

Alex grinned ruefully at her husband and said, "I'm sorry. It wasn't my decision. I can only go along with their play on this one, Hon. I've got no pull out here. Besides you've read the book, and you never like movies made from the book."

"I'm sure Sarah's is going to be the exception. You'll just have to go with me and watch it again, when the rest of us peons get to go to the general release."

Bobby and Jack Hawkins were already in the lobby, so Alex snuck Andy a kiss. "It'll be my pleasure to attend such a fine motion picture product with you, at a later date. But I really have to go now."

"Have fun saving the world." Andy joked.

"Always do." With a flip of her hair and a little extra sway to her hips she walked out to join her other partner and Jack Hawkins while they waited for their car to pull up.

When the waitress returned to take his charge card and the bill, he asked if she could hurry. He had a big night ahead of him.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 12

They wound up parking the car at a garage about a block away from the theater and walked down Westwood Boulevard to the Westwood Theater. Near the campus of UCLA and upscale and trendy shops there was an eclectic group of people crowding the sidewalks, many apparently heading for the same-lighted marquee.

Hawkins saw a uniformed officer he knew and went over to have a quick word with him while the others continued down the street. "Hey Simmons, how are ya doing?. Are you working this gig off duty or catching a little over time?"

"Jenkins, you know us lowly uniforms never get the OT you detectives get to put in for. Catching these off duty crowd control gigs helps with the kids' college fund." Laughing at themselves the two men shook hands.

"I've got a serious question for you though. Do you know who Phillip DaSilva is?"

"Yeah of course, who doesn't? Well, I know what he looks like."

"Has he shown up yet? If so, was he with anyone?"

"Yeah, he and one of his sons showed up about twenty minutes ago. They both had a couple of nice looking women with them too."

"the one with the older DaSilva, what did she look like?"

"Dark hair, slim, a lot younger than him. Starting to look like she works hard at looking younger."

"Thanks. Just a heads up, this may be nothing, but keep your eyes open tonight, you never know when the unexpected might happen."

'I always keep my eyes open, after socking away most of my income for tuition, I want to see my kids graduate." Officer Simmons looked over to where Hawkin's partner stood with another man and a woman. "They cops too?"

Nodding, Jenkins said, "NYPD."

"The 'Cross Country' thing?" Curiosity and awareness aroused, Simmons perked up.

"You never no, you never no. Thanks Simmons. Catch ya later."

Simmons caught Jenkins eye and the two exchanged nods. "Right man, catch ya later."

Joining the others, Jenkins told them the DaSilvas had arrived and they should probably get in and find their own seats, hopefully close enough to keep an eye on Veronica Daniels/Nicole Wallace. They were all surprised to discover they actually got to walk down the red carpet, although when they did no one shouted at them or turned their cameras on them. Alex flashed on what it must feel like for a celebrity when the reporters didn't shout their name anymore and no one shoved a camera in your face. It must be a lonely fate, disappearing right before the public's eye like that.

There were groups of people standing in the lobby. As the four detectives walked by, they heard bits of conversation …

"The director thinks he's Spielberg or something… like we're going to give that joker a 100 million dollar budget and not keep a tight rein on him…."

"She just got out of rehab and is already back out on the party circuit…."

"She's hot…. He's a prick…"

Alex looked over a Bobby and said, "It's like being back in the bull pen at work."

Bobby smiled and said, "The stories are all the same, just different locations. Didn't you know nothing original happens in Hollywood?"

"Goren, it didn't take you long to figure out this town." Jenkins joked and went to grab one of the bottled waters set out for the taking.

Alex nudged Bobby as she'd spotted Sarah across the room. Alex marveled by how little Sarah had changed in the last couple of years. She was standing next to two men. One was Phillip DaSilva and Alex assumed the other must be Tony DaSilva. No one else was nearby, at least no one who might possibly by Veronica/Nicole.

Sarah walked away from the two men and headed over to one of the tables with water. "I'll be right back." Bobby said and headed off for the same table. He reached the table just as Sarah did and grabbed the bottle of water from right under her hand. Sarah's head turned and she was about to say something when she saw who it was.

Laughing, she said, "I should have known. Only Bobby Goren can move that quickly for a big guy."

"How are you doing?" Bobby leaned down to speak softly, so he wouldn't be overheard.

"I'm fine. There are so much going on, I don't know which to be more nervous about, so I've decided to just be nervous about everything and not focus on any one thing. Shall I make introductions?"

"Let me go and get Alex."

Sarah went back to rejoin the DaSilva's. "I just ran into that friend of mine from New York. The one I told you I gave the four tickets to for tonight. I want to introduce him and another good friend. They're going to come over."

"Well, we need to make it quick," Phillip DaSilva said distractedly, "We're going to have to go in and take our seats soon. Did either of you see where Veronica took off to?"

"No, sorry dad, I didn't." The two men looked at Sarah who was taking a sip of her water as she just shook her head 'no'.

"Well, here come my friends…" Walking over to greet Alex, she gave her a big hug. "Alex, oh I can't believe it. You look great! Marriage seems to be agreeing with you."

Smiling at the sincerity in Sarah's voice, Alex replied. "It is. It really is." She flashed her engagement ring and wedding band.

"Oh, it's gorgeous. I was so disappointed to hear that Andy couldn't come tonight. That would have been fun, more like old times." Pausing to look back at the DaSilva's, Sarah began to make introductions, "Phillip and Tony DaSilva, these are a couple of very dear friends, Robert Goren and Alex Eames. Or is it Davenport?"

"Eames-Davenport." Alex supplied.

"Eames-Davenport. The FBI brought them out to help with that task force they're forming to track the 'Cross Country' killer. They were the first detectives to realize they were dealing with a serial killer. They came up with the first profile on the killer."

"So you're the New York cops that were mentioned in the paper." Tony DaSilva mentioned.

"I suppose we were." Bobby said as he extended his hand to shake with both the DaSilvas. And these two gentlemen are Jack Hawkins and Steve Jenkins, both of the LAPD. They've been showing us around."

"A pleasure Mr. Dasilva." Jack grasped Phillip DaSilva's hand and shook and then grabbed his son's outstretched hand, "and you too, Mr. DaSilva."

"Tony. Please. I'm just Tony. Hawkins? I think my brother mentioned a Detective Hawkins.."

"Um yes, that would be me, us. Look, that was nothing personal, we were just doing our job. I'm sure you know, there aren't any charges pending. How, how is your brother doing?"

"No, no hard feelings here. Then I can't speak for my brother. He's a wreck. The woman he loved was murdered and he found out she was pregnant during his interrogation for her death." Tony's voice started to rise and Sarah reached out to lay a calming hand on his arm. "Sorry… I'm sorry. I'm okay."

It was then that the small group heard a voice say, "Vince darling, we really should get inside and take our seats." Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and the four detectives got their first real look at Veronica Daniels.

"Oh good, there you are Veronica, Phillip has been missing you. Let me introduce you to a couple of my friends from New York. Robert Goren and Alex Eames-Davenport." As she did she watch Veronica very closely to see if there was any hint of recognition or reaction. She didn't notice anything. "these two are new friends, Jack Hawkins and Steve Jenkins."

"A pleasure to meet you all, but really we need to get inside now. Don't you think, Phillip? We can talk more at the party after the movie." Veronica slipped her arm around Phillip's and led him away. "So, just how much have you been missing me darling?"

"Well, I guess you're right. We should take our seats. Sarah, have your friends join us. We have a center section reserved. Plenty of really good seats."

"That would be great. Thank you very much." Hawkins was excited at the idea of sitting with the DaSilva's, at the thought of being in the center of things like that. Sitting with the studio heads during a red carpet screening. He couldn't wait to tell his wife, Ann Marie.

Sarah joined Tony as he went into the theater. Alex and Bobby walked in next, followed by Hawkins and Jenkins.

Once they'd taken their seats, Tony leaned over to ask Sarah, "So that's the infamous Robert Goren. He's why I can't get to first base with you? When did he show up?"

Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath before responding, "Tony, re-ally. This isn't the time or place. He came by the other night to catch up on old times and I offered him the tickets to the show tonight. I also invited Alex and her husband Andy, but he had a business meeting and couldn't get out of it. Look, I've told you I still consider Bobby a friend. It's no big deal. One really has nothing to do with the other."

Sarah was interrupted by Steve Sanders, one of the producers working at Monogram, "Tony, good to see you. Can I talk to you for a minute, about the "Obsidian Rising" project?"

"Sure Steve," Turning his attention back to Sarah, he said, "excuse me, Sarah. I'll be right back and we'll continue this conversation later." Making his way out of the aisle of seats, Tony and Steve walked back out to the lobby.

Sarah turned around with the intention of talking with Alex who was sitting in the row behind her. When she did, she caught all four detectives casting glances at Veronica. Reluctantly, she turned back to the front to leave them alone. She realized they were working. There would be time for them to talk at the party after the screening.

Sarah felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Bobby leaning forward, as he asked, "Nervous?"

"Sure a little. Okay, a lot." Sarah admitted.

"If I never said it before, it's a great story. It's a very visual story to begin. And with your adaptation it should still be. I think this is going to be a big success for you."

"Robert. Thank you." Turning back to face the screen she looked up and saw Tony staring at her and Bobby. She wondered if he could see the tears in her eyes. She wondered if Bobby had seen them also.

Tony made his way back to his seat as the lights dimmed. As he sat down, he looked sideways at Sarah and finally realized and understood. Nothing had happened between him and Sarah, nothing was going to happen between him and Sarah, and Detective Robert Goren was the reason. It was obvious she was still in love with him, and he might still be in love with her too. It really didn't matter. As long as Sarah was still in love with him, there really wasn't a place for Tony in Sarah's life.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 13

The after party was in full swing, by the time the DaSilva's and party arrived at the hotel across the street from the Westwood Theater. Everyone was excited and in a good mood. The screening had been perfect. The audience seemed to have enjoyed it, and while that was all that was important to Sarah, Tony and Phillip were anxious about the reviews that would appear in tomorrow's paper. But Los Angeles wasn't New York. There would be no waiting for the early edition of the paper at Sardi's or the like. At six o'clock tomorrow morning, a phalanx of secretaries and execs in marketing and advertising would be spinning the comments and placing blurbs in papers across the country for the weekend's release. A lot was riding on the opening weekend's numbers. If they were good, it was a pretty good indicator to Monogram to go ahead and greenlight the next adaptation of Sarah's book.

As they walked into the party, people were already surrounding the actors who had played the four main characters and were praising them for their performances. Several people came over to congratulate Tony DaSilva, since he had produced the film and of course, Phillip DaSilva for bringing it all together.

Sarah knew that as the screenwriter, she'd be relatively low on the food chain, so she felt free to stand back and watch all these events take place. "Sarah, it was perfect. It's going to be a hit." Alex enthused.

Detective Hawkins continued the praise, "If you can get seasoned cops like Jenkins and I on the edge of our seats, you know you've got the real deal."

Bobby had been standing behind Sarah, placed both hands on her shoulders, and leaned down to say, "See I told you. There was nothing to worry about."

Sarah reached up and rubbed Bobby's hands. "Okay, you guys really don't have to be so nice about it. But, I'm loving it. And while it's not necessary that you be so kind, feel free to continue." A waiter stopped and offered the group glasses of champagne.

Tony walked up then and made the toast. "To Sarah. For a masterful story, ingeniously told and perfectly executed. It really was a wonderful screenplay. It was the perfect blend of intrigue, deception and action. Qualities that are so often lacking in mainstream Hollywood feature films."

Sarah added, Well, I had nothing to do with the execution of it, so I think we should toast to Tony DaSilva and everyone at Monogram Studios for their expertise, encouragement, patience and friendship."

Vince DaSilva and Veronica Daniels joined them. Vince came up and gave Sarah a big hug and pat on the back. "I knew it kid. I told you not to worry." Vince recognized the two LAPD cops from his interrogation and with an intense glare in their direction excused himself, "I'm… I'm not staying. I just wanted to extend my congratulations. I'm going home now."

Phillip reached out to his son, but Vince pulled away and brushed off his father's hand. He whispered fiercely to his father, "I told you I'd come. I came. I wanted to congratulate Sarah. I have. Now I'm going. Tony, I'll… I'll see you in the office on Monday."

Vince turned and walked away, leaving his father's hand hanging in mid-air until Veronica reached out for it and grabbed his hand. To try to cover the awkwardness of the moment, Veronica spoke, "Sarah, I hope you believe everyone. No one is saying all this just to be nice. No one has said an insincere word. It's all true."

Bobby was listening to her carefully. He was listening for her speech pattern, her vocal timbre. He was watching her body language, looking for any sign that would remind him of Nicole. He knew Alex was too, even though she wasn't watching her as she spoke.

Alex's gaze was across the room, and before Bobby saw what she'd seen she walked away from the group, muttering, "I'll be right back."

Veronica suggested they go find their tables. These parties had a way of dragging out and if you didn't have a place to sit down, after awhile you really starting hating your life.

Alex joined them with Andy in tow. "Look who I found lurking about in the corner. "

Sarah came around the table to give Andy a big hug. "Andy, you made it. Oh, you look as great as Alex does. Marriage seems to be agreeing with both of you. Did you get here in time to see any of the movie?"

Andy nodded as he released Sarah and stepped back. "I was able to catch most of it." As he glanced over to see the head shake and sneer on his wife's face, he added, "I'm glad I called you before my meeting and had you set aside a ticket for me, just in case I was able to make it. Wasn't it a nice surprise Alex?"

"It's a very nice surprise. And one we'll talk about for a long time to come, I'm sure." The implied threat didn't escape either Andy's or Bobby's notice. Alex wasn't able to see the wink that Andy gave Bobby. They both knew there would be hell to pay, later.

The group sorted themselves out and sat down at one large round table. More champagne flowed and more toasts followed. Conversations began.

A dance band was starting up in the adjacent room and several couples had migrated to the dance floor, including Alex and Andy. Tony DaSilva stood and offered his hand to Sarah as she smiled up at him and stood. Jack Hawkins and Steve Jenkins had started talking to Veronica about the movie. Bobby was sitting back, trying to take it all, all the visual and auditory clues. Her voice, her inflections, her body language, everything she said and did while speaking with the two detectives. Sarah was right, there wasn't a trace of accent in her voice, her diction was very flat. She appeared very relaxed, very confident. If she was Nicole, she'd done a lot of work to lose her English/Australian accent. The surprise of running into Bobby and Alex hadn't appeared to throw her off her game. Either she wasn't Nicole or she was confident that no one would be able to break her cover. Not even Bobby or Alex.

"Goren, listen up, you've got to hear this." Jack got Goren's attention. "Veronica has a clever take on the 'Cross Country' killer.

"Really? Are you about to break the case wide open for us, Veronica?" Bobby leaned forward.

"Oh no, far from it Detective. Just a thought I had and I was wondering what professionals would think about it. Has anyone considered the possibility that the killer is a woman? I've read several books lately that suggest female serial killers will be the next major growth segment of the population to commit violent crimes."

"Well, that may be. I've met several women over the years that were not only capable of serial killings but even may have already gotten away with it. In this instance with the 'Cross Country Killer' I don't see anything to suggest that the killer is a woman. All the victims have been female and semen was found at all the crime scenes. But then, I haven't seen the full case files or had a chance to review all the DNA evidence and such. What I find more intriguing and likely is that not all these cases should be attributed to the same killer. I think it's more likely that it's the work of more than one man … or woman. On general principle, I wouldn't rule out a female serial killer, just because she's a woman. But, I've always had a difficult time wrapping my mind around the fact that a woman could achieve the heights or sink to the depths of depravity that a man seems capable of. "

"Well, I guess finding semen at all the crime scenes would make it less likely the killer is a woman. But, don't sell women short, Detective. 'Anything you can do, we can do better'." Laughing, she added, "Isn't that how that old song goes?"

Phillip walked up to the table, and beckoned to Veronica, "Veronica, come say hello to Constance Frasier." Phillip laid a hand on her shoulder as he stopped at the table to escort Veronica to one of the table in the corner. "We need to get Zach Roberts to sign up for 'Navigator 2', we need to make this overture to his agent." Zach Roberts had made the movie 'Navigator' three years ago after making the jump from television series to feature films. His career had taken off and he was now one of the most in-demand actors in town.

"Of course, Phillip. Excuse me gentlemen." Veronica rose and joined Phillip as he walked away.

"What do you think, is it her?" Steve Jenkins asked.

Leaning forward, resting his chin on his hand, Bobby shook his head. "I don't know. I need more than a thirty-second conversation with her. The voice is wrong, different, lower pitched, flat and there's no accent. Her look is very different, but still there's something about her. the eyes, the color is different, could be contacts. But … but there's something. I'm not sure if I'm really seeing what I think I am, or just what I want to find. Did either of you notice any difference in her during our conversation versus yours?"

"Um, she seemed more friendly with us, flirty, and she was maybe a little more confrontational and challenging with you. That whole 'Anything you can do, we can do better' comment seemed a bit arched. But you're right, the differences aren't enough to go on. They wouldn't impress any D.A. I've ever met. "

The three men watched Veronica make the rounds of the guests, portraying the gracious hostess. She walked over to Tony and Sarah and pulled Sarah into conversation. Sarah looked over in Bobby's direction, smiled, and laughed at whatever Veronica had said.

Alex and Andy returned from the dance floor and took their seats. "We saw you talking to Veronica. What do you think? Did you get enough to form an impression about whether she's Nicole or not."

Bobby shook his head, "I don't know. There's something, but it's just a feeling. She's the right height and build, but nothing that I can definitively point to and say, 'Yes, it's her.', but I feel it is. There's not enough yet for me to call her out."

"Well, let me try." Alex got up and joined the small group of women that included, Sarah, Veronica and two other women.

Andy watched as Alex joined in with the women. "Sarah looks great, doesn't she?" Sarah was wearing an off-white dress sleeveless dress with a full flowing skirt that hit right above her knees and showed off her great legs. The Southern California sun had streaked her hair naturally and had given her a golden glow. Her laugh filtered over to the table where the four men were sitting.

Bobby followed Andy's gaze and said, "Yes Andy, she does. Drop it."

Andy looked back in mock shock, "What? It's just an observation. I may not be a detective, but some things are so patently obvious, even I can deduce them. Steve, Jack don't you think Sarah looks great?"

Steve had just raised his glass to take a drink and paused long enough to make a small salute with his glass as he said, "Absolutely."

Jack agreed, "Yeah, she should be in front of the camera, not behind it. A woman who looks like that is not what I think of when I think 'writer'. You and her really used to date? I don't see it. That kind of thing doesn't even happen here in Hollyweird, a gorgeous woman like that and a cop like you. Maybe I need to transfer to NYPD."

Bobby muttered, "I never really saw it either."


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 14

"Sarah, Constance was just asking me about your friend Bobby. She noticed him when we came in. She seems to think that he seems like a very interesting man. She asked me how long you've known him and I wasn't sure?" Veronica was asking as Alex joined the group.

"Well, let's see. I guess it's about four years now. I met Robert at a book signing for "And Justice For All" in New York. He came in and confused me enough to get me to agree to go out with him. And on our first date, he literally swept me off my feet."

"How's that again?" Constance asked, fascinated.

"We were victims, well I was the victim of a hit-and-run kate board attack while walking after dinner in Central Park. I fell and twisted my ankle. He wound up having to carry me all the way back to his car." Everyone laughed. "And through Robert, I met and became friends with Alex and Andy, although they weren't married at the time. I think they met just a little while before Robert and I did."

"Well, that may be, but I think it was almost six months after I met Andy that I found out you two had been seeing each other for almost four months. My partner plays it pretty close to the vest when his personal life is involved. My first clue that he was even seeing anyone was he started coming in to work shaved in the morning. Before that, he would push it for days without shaving, until our Captain had to remind Bobby about regulations.

"Partners?" Constance asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry Constance, Robert and Alex are NYPD detectives." Sarah said.

"Alex, how long have you and Bobby been partners?" Veronica asked just before taking another sip of her champagne.

"Oh, almost six years now." Alex looked straight into Veronica's eyes.

Veronica smiled, "I bet you've handled some very interesting cases. Any that we can get you to tell us about? Maybe Sarah could write about them in her new book? I believe Sarah said you were detectives in Major Cases?"

Sarah looked down and quickly took a sip of her champagne.

"Yes, we've had some interesting cases. Mostly though, I'm always struck by the wastefulness of it all. The waste of life. The loss of hope."

"I suppose that's all true, detective. Very sad. And tragic. I would imagine especially when someone gets away with it, or when you don't have a suspect. I'm sure that must have happened a time or two in your years on the force. "

"Yes, it has, more than once. Those are the ones that keep you awake at night. Those are the ones you never forget." Alex looked closely at Veronica as she spoke.

Alex spoke with a quiet intensity that stalled conversation for a minute as everyone took another sip of their drinks. Sensing she may have gone too far, "Sorry, everyone. That was a little more intense than I intended. It's a bit of a sensitive subject for most cops."

Changing the subject, Veronica asked a new question, "So Alex, how long are you and Bobby going to be here in town?" Adding in a teasing voice, "I'm sure Sarah's hoping for it'll be for more than a few days, although I'm not sure how happy that's going to make Tony."

"Veronica, There's nothing going on between Tony and I…."

Veronica interrupted, "Yes, I know that dear, but that doesn't keep me from seeing that he would like there to be."

Sarah continued, "…And I haven't seen or talked to Robert for several years now. We're just friends now."

"My dear, I hope you mean friends with benefits." Constance added.

"Constance!" Sarah screamed as all the women broke out laughing. "All right then, fine. On that note, I'm going to go get some more champagne. Where's a waiter when you need one?" Sarah walked away laughing as Alex went on to answer Veronica's question.

"To answer your question Veronica, I'm not sure how long we're going to be out here. Originally, it looked like we were just going to be out here until the weekend, so the Feds could pick our brains about the profile we came up with in the 'Cross Country' killer case that we handled in New York. My partner really is quite brilliant. He has a way of connecting facts "A" "C" and "D" to get to "F" and finding "B" and "E" by the time he's finished. As of now though, I couldn't tell you how long it's going to be. Things have a way of coming together rather quickly sometimes. And others, well frankly, they never come together at all. For all I know we'll be able to go home tomorrow. I'm just happy we were able to be here for tonight. This has been really great." Alex looked around the room, hoping she showed the correct star struck quality.

Sarah had given up on her search for a waiter and returned to the table. As she sat down at the table next to Bobby, she leaned over and whispered, "OK. I don't know what you've been able to come up with, but I'm convinced that Veronica Daniels is Nicole." Picking up her champagne glass, she took a sip and before setting it down, she tipped it in Nicole's direction. "She is Nicole Wallace."

Bobby looked doubtful. "What makes you think that? How do you know? You never even met Nicole."

"You're right, I never met Nicole. But, I know that I never specifically told Veronica about you. Despite what the FBI thinks, she and I aren't that close. I may have mentioned something about 'an old boyfriend in New York' and that you were a cop, but only in general terms, but never in any detail. So, everything she's saying tonight she knew without me having told her."

Looking doubtful Hawkins asked, "What has she been saying tonight to convince you?"

"OK, tonight," Sarah pointed at Goren, "I introduced him as Robert Goren. I've only addressed him as Robert. I very consciously did that. I've been listening and I haven't heard anyone else refer to him as anything other than Robert or Goren or not by name at all. She…" Sarah pointed to Nicole, "keeps referring to him as "Bobby". Why? If she wasn't Nicole, why would she be calling you Bobby? I can see 'Robert' or 'Bob' but "Bobby" - come on, it's not the first nickname that comes to mind when someone first meets you. Do you remember when we first met and how surprised I was when you said I should call you "Bobby"? I remember you telling me you hated it when Nicole called "Bobby".

Also, she just mentioned to Alex that I'd told her that the two of you were with Major Cases. I never told her that. Never. I am not close enough to her to have told her things like that." Looking over at Bobby, she said, "… believe it or not, you are not a major topic of conversation with the people I know out here. Like I said before, I'm sure I probably did mention 'an old boyfriend' from New York and that he was a cop, but I never would have said anything about you being a detective in Major Case."

"While she was talking to Alex and trying to find out about cases and such, she seemed more interested in those cases that maybe hadn't gotten solved, where the suspect got away with it. If I remember correctly, from what you told me, that seems like a classic Nicole dig at the cops,

Jenkins got up and said, "Well, it's not the most solid evidence, but it's more than we were able to come up with. I'm going to go outside and call Caldwell, and see what he wants us to do."

Bobby stood and said, "Come on Sarah, let's dance."

"What? You want to dance? Now?" Sarah was confused now.

"Yes now, let's dance. I can get a better look at her from there. Maybe I'll see something in her body language. Also, it'll be easier to keep her in sight from there." As he led her away from the table, under his breath, he added, "And I want to talk to you."

The band started a slow song and they fell into an easy slow waltz. For a minute, Sarah was lost in the music and their movements. Bobby didn't allow that to last long. Bobby's whispered questions broke into her reverie, "What do you think you're doing? Do you realize how dangerous this could be? Especially if it turns out that Veronica is Nicole? Why are you involving yourself in this more than you already are? Nicole is very dangerous."

Trying to remain calm Sarah said, "I realize that Nicole is dangerous. But what am I supposed to do? You came to my house, you drag me outside to talk to me because the FBI has listening devices trained on it. You tell me they believe I'm involved in arms smuggling with possible ties to terrorist organizations because of this one women I've recently met. What did you think I was going to do? Stand around and let this unfold around me? To find myself taken into custody in the dark of night and held somewhere like Guantanemo? I'm not that person anymore. I haven't been that person in a very long time. I'm going to do whatever I have to, to prove that I'm not involved in anything illegal. So that's what I'm doing and what I'm going to continue to do. Now, that's all I have to say about this. So, if you still want to dance, fine, then we'll dance. If not then let's go back to the table."

Sarah could see she hit a nerve with Bobby who was working his jaw. "What's it going to be, Goren?"

Bobby closed his eyes and drew a deep breath,

"Naw, uh uh, don't say it Goren. We're finished with the subject. I mean it. We can dance or we can go back to the table. The choice is yours."

Sarah leaned back so that she could see up into Goren's face. He pressed his lips together and exhaled deeply. "Fine, we're fine. We're just dancing then."

"Fine, we're just dancing." Sarah leaned forward enough to rest her head on his shoulder. They just danced.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 15

Veronica was keeping a close eye on Goren and Sarah as they stayed out on the dance floor while she was continuing her conversation with his partner and the others. She couldn't help but think that Sarah was acting different. More than running into an old boyfriend would account for and definitely different than someone who was celebrating the premiere of her first movie.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I should probably try to find Phillip. Maybe I can get him to dance with me a little before we have to leave. I know he has a meeting early tomorrow morning with Vince's lawyers, about what happens next regarding Laura Nelson.

"I wasn't going to say anything; I wasn't sure how to bring it up. But how is Vince doing?" Constance asked. "I can't imagine what it's been like for him the last few days. First, finding Laura like that and then to be arrested and interrogated by the police. What was the phrase they used, "a person of interest"? Then finding out she was pregnant during that interrogation. I mean really. I… I really just can't imagine. It's almost like the whole O.J. Simpson mess again. That's something this city just doesn't need to go through again." Constance actually shuddered at the thought.

"Yes, it really is quite unimaginable." Veronica replied, a little sarcastically, "Vince obviously is still very broken up. He's a mess really. Although we'll never know for sure if Vince was the child's father. Phillip was convinced that Laura was seeing someone besides Vince. I'm sure that Phillip is also concerned about what this could do the Studio."

"Not the father…" Constance's eye opened wide.

"That's what he thinks. I believe he hired a private detective to follow her, he's very protective of both his sons. And once Phillip gets an idea in his head, it's difficult to sway him. But I really don't know if Phillip is going to tell Vince that, so…. I really shouldn't have said anything."

"Well you can count on my discretion, of course." Constance whispered.

Scanning the crowd, "Oh, there he is, excuse me won't you?" Veronica walked over to Phillip and whispered in his ear as she grabbed his arm and led him onto the dance floor.

Alex excused herself as well, admitting she'd left her husband alone for too long. Constance looked around for another group to join. She noticed Abigail McCoy and Rachel Danvers in conversation a few yards away and went over to join them On her way she saw a passing waiter and stopped him to ask, "Young man, could you get me another glass of champagne?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be right back with that." The young man stopped in mid-stride

"I'll just be right over there." Constance had spotted another small group of women standing around and apparently gossiping. She wandered off in their direction.

"Of course, Miss Powers. I'll bring it right over." While he wasn't a waiter, but the event planner it was his job to see to it that everything ran smoothly. He stopped one of his waiters and asked him to take a glass over to her. They both nodded as they watched the woman overplay her friendliness with the two women she joined. The real waiter brought three fresh glasses of champagne over to the trio.

Alex rejoined Andy and the two LAPD detectives. Jenkins had just sat back down after calling Caldwell. "Caldwell wants us to stay put and watch her. There are several agents stationed outside who are ready to respond if we're able to confirm her identity. But they really need want that confirmation."

"What did you think Alex? Is she Nicole Wallace?" Jenkins asked.

"I… I can't be sure. I'm with Bobby on this. It's too easy to read more into her comments than might really by there."

Andy and the others told her what Sarah had told them about how she was convinced that Veronica was Nicole.

"Well, she does refer to him as Bobby a lot, and that was one thing that Nicole played on, calling him Bobby. But that's not enough to convince me. I think Sarah is seeing what she wants to, so that this will be over."

"Look at that." Andy nodded in the direction of the dance floor. Phillip DaSilva and Veronica Daniels were dancing very close to Goren and Sarah. The two couples stopped dancing and spoke for a moment before switching partners. "This is where it gets good." Andy enthusiastically said.


	16. Chapter 16

"Detective, you surprise me

CHAPTER 16

"Detective, you surprise me. You're a very good dancer." Nicole remarked as the two moved across the dance floor. "It's really very difficult to find a graceful partner these days."

"Well, the kudos belong to my mother. She considered it 'an essential skill' for her sons. She taught both my brother and I how to dance."

"Well you must have been a very good student, Bobby."

Almost shyly Bobby responded, "Well, it was one of the few things my mother enjoyed doing. It was something my father didn't much like, so that's why my brother and I thought she taught us. So, that she would have the opportunity to dance, even if it was with her little boys. Where did you learn to dance so well?"

"Me? Oh it's just one of the things I've picked up on my way from there to here." You never know when you'll have the opportunity to dance with an attractive detective."

Bobby smiled and dipped his head as he asked, "On your way from there to here.' Where was there?"

"Originally, there was Lincoln, Nebraska. Middle America at it's finest. Since then there have been quite a few other 'there's', but that was the first one."

"Really? So you're a world traveler then? Where else have you traveled?"

"I wouldn't say a 'world traveler", I don't even have a passport. I've spent most of my life in several of the western states. But New York, that would be exciting. I'd love to visit there. Phillip has promised to take me the next time he goes on business."

"I will say that New York is something special. I can't imagine living anywhere else, even though there are times when I am ready to just chuck it all and run to the hills."

"You don't strike me as a survivalist, Detective."

"A survivalist. No, not hardly. But I am a survivor."

"Well detective. Something we have in common."

"It's funny you should say that, because I feel like we do have something in common. Like we've met before, that our paths have crossed before. But I guess it must have been in a previous life or incarnation.

'A previous life.' That's possible I suppose. 'Someone you crossed paths' with. That sounds slightly ominous and intriguing, Detective. Would I be right in assuming that this someone I remind you of is someone who crossed paths with you in your capacity of a police officer?"

"Yes, actually. She was, is a very driven individual. In the course of several run-ins with this woman we discovered people had a nasty habit of dying whenever she was around. We know she is culpable in at least five deaths. She happens to be a multiple murderer."

"Really, Detective? You mean she's a serial killer?"

"Well, she doesn't quite fit the profile of a serial killer. It's only my opinion, but I feel she exhibits traits more closely associated with a sociopathic personality. But she's both more and less than that. She doesn't kill indiscriminately, only those who stand in her way. She's completely narcissistic, remorseless and cold. She's' calculating, cunning and very clever. She's a very complex, complicated and dangerous individual."

"How absolutely scandalous that I remind you of someone so … notorious. Even though I don't think I should feel particularly flattered by the comparison. It does sound like you have a certain admiration for her." Laughing Veronica pulled back and asked, "What about me reminds you of this woman?"

"Admiration isn't the right word. I understand her psychopathy. As to the similarities, well I'm not sure. Call it a gut reaction. But I've picked up on a couple of things now. One of them is your speech pattern. It's formal. A trait that Nicole shares. Except for the way she always informally addressed me as "Bobby" - another similarity the two of you share. There's also your body language. Although all of it wouldn't be enough to convince a jury," Leaning forward, Bobby whispered in her ear, "but I know you're Nicole. I also know that this time you're not going to get away. Elizabeth Hitchens, Nicole Wallace, and Veronica Daniels."

"Oh, Detective, you almost have me convinced. Not quite, and as you say, I don't think you could convince anyone else to a certainty either, let alone a jury of twelve of my peers."

"This time, Nicole. It's not about getting enough evidence to prove to a DA or even a jury. I don't need to convince anyone of anything this time. They are ready to take you now. All I have to do is nod my head and a team of federal agents will swarm this place and drag you out of here… Nicole. You're considered a person of interest to the Federal Government now. It has nothing to do with murder or stolen Antrax this time. The drug and gun smuggler you were keeping company with in Arizona has or should I say had, since they found his dead body in the desert, ties to Al-Qaeda. That's a major 'National Security issue' and since 9/11 the Feds aren't concerned about your civil rights, or about your guilt or innocence… Nicole. They can lock you up and hold you forever on no more evidence than my say so, than a head nod. For as long as they want. How's that for irony? After so many attempts to get enought evidence to convict you, isn't it ironic, that just because I want it to happen, I can make it happen. Just because I want to, just because… Nicole."

Nicole/Veronica tensed slightly, but not significantly enough so that anyone glancing at the dancers would have been able to notice. If they hadn't been dancing, Goren may not even have noticed the slight tightening of her muscles. The lightly held breath.

"That 'fight or Flight' response is really starting to kick in now isn't it Nicole? And your… your 'blink' rate has gone through the roof. Are ya feeling a little stressed, Nicole?"

"I've gotten so caught up in your little fantasy Detective; I can almost believe it myself. Fascinating, it's absolutely fascinating. I hate to end the conversation here, but here is where it must regrettably end. Phillip has an early day tomorrow and we should be getting home. I think it's time for us to part company."

Veronica/Nicole tapped Phillip DaSilva on the shoulder and said, "Time to switch back to our original partners. Darling, it's getting late. I think we should be on our way home."

Bobby watched as Nicole/Veronica led Phillip DaSilva back to the table. They were saying good nights to everyone they saw. Goren looked over at the table where Jenkins, Hawkins, Andy and Alex were watching and waiting for some sign. It came in the form of a sharp quick nod. "Well, tell me, I was right wasn't I? She is Nicole isn't she?" Sarah was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Yes Sarah, she is. That's Nicole. They're getting ready to leave, and I think we should follow their lead." Bobby turned and led Sarah off away from the dance floor. As they walked, he nodded again to Jenkins and Hawkins who stood and started walking to the doors as they pulled out their cell phones. Jenkins was calling Caldwell of the FBI and Hawkins was calling Chief of Detectives Jarvis.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

As Bobby and Sarah reached the table, Bobby said, "Alex, Andy, we should probably get out of here before this thing breaks wide open. This is about to get very high profile. I don't think any of us want to get tangled up in this mess." As the four turned and walked towards the door, about a dozen federal agents entered and made their way over to all the exits to stand guard over them.

People stepped aside to get out of the agents way as one of the agents stepped up onto the bandstand and took over the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Special Agent David Stone with the FBI; we have received what we've determined to be a 'credible threat' to this hotel. We are in the process of evacuating the entire complex; we need your assistance in clearing this building as quickly and quietly as possible. This is merely a precaution and there is no need to panic. But I do need you all to proceed to the exit on my left in a calm and orderly manner."

A voice in the crowd shouted, "bomb threat", which led to the inevitable panic associated with the fear. Several women began to cry while some of the men belligerent and aggressive. One man was pushed from behind and he turned and pushed back, which led to a frenzy of pushing and chaos. Agent Stone helplessly watched as the entire room became gripped by hysteria. Several more federal agents rushed past Goren, Sarah, Alex and Andy as they finally reached the doors. Sirens wailed as several police cars converged on the Westwood cinema/hotel complex. Several other partygoers were rushing down the street, thankful to be out of the building.

Andy was looking around in disbelief. "Now this seems like a scene out of one of the "Lethal Weapon" movies. This may have been the only thing lacking in your movie Sarah, a really BIG finish as the heroes vanish into the night."

Sarah was also looking around in amazement. "Well, maybe we can get them to re-shoot the ending now. Although probably not, since Phillip DaSilva would have to foot the bill for it. I don't think he's not going to be anxious to relive this experience."

"Probably not." Andy conceded.

Jack Hawkins caught up with the four of them and handed Goren the keys to the SUV. "We're going to stay down here and see how this plays out. You take the car and we'll catch a ride with someone from the department. We'll call you in the morning. Maybe we can meet for breakfast? I'm sure you'll all be in for a very long day tomorrow. This is why I suggest you get out of here quickly, before they shut down this part of town and you can't get out."

"That was I was thinking too. Thanks for the keys. Sarah doesn't need to be around this. I keep saying "I'm done" where Nicole is concerned, maybe this time I really am."

"Um…" Hawkins nodded in Sarah's direction. "You might want to find some place other than her condo for Sarah. It might be better if you all went back to the hotel. I don't know how effective the Feds are going to be at keeping the lid on this, even though there are only entertainment reporters down here, it's still going to be tough to keep this quiet. It won't be long before they come looking for Sarah to comment. They'll be at her place like vultures. Whether or not they learn the real reason for the 'evacuation' or not, it won't matter, they'll still be lining up. It might be a good idea to keep her off the grid for a day or two. I'm sure you know the Feds are still going to want to talk to her. A good night's sleep is going to go a long way to prepare her for that, especially considering the Feds aren't likely to get one tonight."

Sarah had overheard and nodded ruefully, "He's right. The press is going to be going to be staking out the condo for days. I don't know about the Feds though. Do you think they're really going to still want to talk to me about this? They'll have Nicole and will see there's no real connection between us, so what's the point?"

"The Feds don't really have to have a point, do they? Given our nation's current political climate, they're going to cover all the bases." Jack said. "They're going to want to get statements from all of us."

Alex stepped forward, "He's right Sarah. They're still going to be interested in finding out if Veronica/Nicole told you anything about her plans. It'll be better for you if it can be on your terms and not theirs."

"Well, sure you all make very valid points. I suppose it's pointless to ask that I be able to go home and pick up a few things?" From the blank looks and silence from the others, she added, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, we might as well go then. What hotel is this anyway?

"A Holiday Inn, downtown. It's very nice." Alex tried to sound enthusiastic about the businessman's hotel."

"I'm sure it is. It would be too much to ask that they spring for The Four Seasons wouldn't it?" Sarah said with more than a hint of disappointment in her tone.

Andy chimed in. "Oh, come on Sarah. It's not that bad. What it may lack in style and atmosphere, our winning company will more than make up for." He crooked his arm into hers and pulled her towards the car. "Come on everyone, the first round is on me."

"Well, now I wish I were going to." Hawkins yelled as the four got in the car and drove off.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 18

Bobby was quiet during the drive to the hotel. He said he was concentrating on not missing their exit. It felt weird to Alex to not be driving, but she had climbed into the back seat of the SUV with her husband when Bobby pointed out he'd made the drive freeway a couple of times already. It did make more sense, but it felt wrong.

Halfway back to the hotel, Andy remembered that he had driven to the theater too. They had gone off and left his rental car there. Alex shook her head, amazed at the turn of events that had taken place in the last 48 hours and the one thing that concerned her husband most was that he'd forgotten his rental car. He was quick to point out that a car really is kind of a big thing to forget.

Bobby still hadn't said much since leaving Westwood and merging onto the freeway. Alex leaned forward and whispered to Bobby, "Are you all right?"

"Hmm… fine. I'm fine Alex. I'm just concentrating on the road." It had seemed an effort for him to drag the words out, but Alex let it slide for now. She looked over to the passenger seat and watched Sarah in the dark. She caught Sarah glancing at Goren several times but mostly she sat looking out the window not really following any of Andy's running monologue. After a while, even Andy couldn't maintain interest in what he was saying and fell silent, leaving everyone alone with their thoughts.

Alone with his, Bobby was having a difficult time grasping the idea that this might really be the end of the road for Nicole, that there wouldn't be anymore sparring matches between them. As perverse as it sounded, Nicole had always presented a tempting challenge, even though he found it frustrating and irritating, it was stimulating and intriguing. The puzzle that she presented had been one of Bobby's greatest professional challenges.

Bobby pulled into the hotel drive and turned the car over to the valet take the LAPD's SUV. As they walked into the hotel, they noticed the time. It was early, still only 9:00, so there was still a lot of activity going on in the lobby.

Andy revived and started scanning the bar as they walked by. "I was serious about the first round being on me. It's still early. Let's go. What's everyone drinking? Grab that table over there will you Alex? I'll go up to the bar and get the first round."

"Come on Sarah, we might as well. He's not going to let this go until everyone's had at least one drink. I'll have a margarita. What about you Sarah?"

"Oh, I guess I'll have a Bombay Martini, three olives." Sarah looked around for Bobby. He was walking back out to the lobby.

Andy called to Bobby, asking him what he'd like to drink.

"I'll take a double Glenlivet, on the rocks." Bobby told him. "I'll be right back."

Andy brought the drinks just as Bobby returned. The four sat and listened to Andy, who seemed determined to keep the conversation light and away from the events of the evening. Another round of drinks brought the conversation around to Sarah's new book and the script she'd just finished for Monogram Pictures. Although, now Sarah wasn't sure how what her future held with Monogram Pictures. Her relationship with the DaSilva's and Monogram Pictures might be in jeopardy after tonight. Although she still had her writing. Hyperion was still her publisher and not connected to Monogram at all. She hated to admit it, but scandal would probably be helpful to her book sales and even the box office of the movie that was set to open tomorrow.

Alex and Sarah both tried stifling yawns of exhaustion. Andy suggested calling it a night. There was an awkward pause as everyone seemed to realize that Sarah needed a place to stay.

"Well, I guess I need to see about finding a room for the night." Sarah said, as she started to dig around in her handbag.

Sarah was about to stand as Bobby said, "Wait a minute. Felix should be back any minute," Alex remembered the friendly bellman from earlier.

No sooner had Bobby finished speaking than the young man rounded the corner and came into the bar. With him, he had two paper bags, one bag he handed to Bobby and the other to Sarah. "Thank you Felix, I really appreciate it." Bobby said.

Felix replied, "My pleasure, Detective. Here's the card key and your change." Bobby stood to shake the young man's hand and forced the change back into his hand. "This is for your time. Thanks again, Felix."

"Thank you, Bobby. I…I mean, Detective Goren." Felix thought about how he'd spend this extra money on his girl this weekend.

"While Andy was getting the first round of drinks I went to see about getting you a room. While I was at the desk, I ran into Felix and had him run out to get a few things from the drugstore down the street. It's not what you'd have at home, but it should do for a night."

"Thank you, Bobby." Sarah said softly, looking at the room card in her hand as she flipped it end over end, bouncing it on the tabletop. "Well, then I guess we're ready to go." They all stood and made their way out of the bar.

Alex asked, "What's your room number Sarah? We're all up on the seventh floor.'

Bobby broke in. "You're in 713 Sarah, across the hall from Alex and Andy."

Andy was still in high spirits, "Oh, goody, it's almost like a slumber party."

Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Oh brother. Why didn't someone warn me about this side of your personality, before we got married?"

Alex realized that if Sarah's room was across the hall from her and Andy's room, Sarah's was next door to Bobby's and if the room set up was similar to hers, shared a connecting door. She glanced at Bobby who was looked back at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I think Bobby tried warning you, didn't you?" Andy piped in.

"Everyday, right up until the wedding day. But my powers of persuasion were sadly lacking those last few weeks." Bobby hung his head in mock shame.

The four stepped off the elevator and headed for their respective rooms. Alex and Andy went to their room, 712. Across the hall was Sarah's room. 713. Everyone said good night in the hallway and they agreed to meet for breakfast at 7:00 the next morning.

Once inside their room Andy realized that their room had shared a connecting door with the room next door. "Um, honey, do you think that the room Sarah has, shares a connecting door with Bobby's?"

"Probably, I think the rooms are all set up identically. Do you want to be the one to go over there and ask him?"

"No, no I think I'll just stay here, thank you very much. And maybe order some of that porn I joked about earlier."

"Or maybe you could show me a few moves of your own." Alex walked up to her husband and started to unbutton his shirt.

"Well, I guess, if you want to do that. We could give that a try." Andy said with a twinkle in his eye.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19

Bobby sat slumped in the one chair in his room, staring at the connecting door, separating his room from Sarah's. He was torn between what he wanted to do, and what he thought he should do. He wasn't surprised how contradictory the choices were. If he did what he wanted to do, he'd knock that door down and never let Sarah out of his sight again. He'd never allow anyone to put her in jeopardy again. Not even himself. If he did what he thought he should do, he'd turn out the lights and try to get some sleep, to try to forget all about Sarah. He'd almost been able to do it once; he could do it again, almost. Just having known him had put her in jeopardy this time. How was he going to prevent anything like that from happening again? He knew he couldn't.

He sighed and stood as he made his choice. He unbuttoned his shirt, walked into the bathroom, and turned the shower on. He resolved never to be a party to anything would harm Sarah, even if it meant that he had to take himself completely out of the picture, permanently out of the picture.

After another night with a hot shower followed by a cold shower, Bobby decided he'd settle in for the evening. He grabbed the bag he'd gotten from Felix and pulled out a brand new fifth of Glenlivet. He broke the seal and filled one of the water glasses from the desk. He reached for the remote and flipped channels until he came to the first all-news channel he came across.

Sarah was on her cell phone, asking her neighbor to go over and get Sammy and to keep him for her until she could get back to her condo. She warned Jerry that it could be for a couple of days. Jerry was cool with that. As she spoke she opened the bag the bellman handed her. She was surprised to see not just a toothbrush and toothpaste, but a brightly colored nightshirt with a picture of the famous Hollywood sign on it. There were also trial sizes of hair products, hand lotion and mouthwash.

Sarah smiled as she shook her head. He'd done a thorough job of picking up the essentials. She undressed as she entered the bathroom and turned on the water in the shower. Bobby had come through for her again. He always seemed to. Things had happened so quickly the last couple of days, she really hadn't had a chance to think about how she felt about seeing him again. When she left New York, she'd been such an emotional wreck. As the weeks and months passed, she began to come back to herself, the self she had rediscovered once before with Bobby's help. This time she was going to have to find that Sarah by herself. She found it getting easier everyday being so far away from Bobby as she made new friends here in L.A. and as her work took new and exciting turns.

She thought it was too late to get back to what they had. If she were honest with herself, she realized that if she would just act on how she felt and not how she thought her life would be vastly different. She didn't know how to get there from here. It was so much farther than the five feet to the connecting door. With a deep breath, she stood and walked towards the door, but stopped as she reached the bed. She chose to flop down on it and pulled the comforter up over her head. When that didn't seem to help, she crawled out from under the comforter and stared at the connecting door.

'He's probably asleep already,' she thought. She stood and wrapped herself in the comforter and walked over to the connecting door. She stood there several minutes listening for any sounds from the other room. She could hear the TV on, it sounded like CNN or some other news channel. Bobby was probably trying to find out if tonight's FBI action had made the news yet. Thinking that this would make a good excuse for talking to Bobby, she knocked at the door, softly calling out, "Bobby?" She opened the door on her side and found the connecting door in Bobby's room was already open.

"Is everything all right, Sarah? Is the TV too loud?" Bobby asked as he reached for the remote and turned down the volume.

"Everything's fine. I… I couldn't sleep. And, I… I wanted to thank you for my lovely sleeping attire." She opened the comforter and flashed him the bright orange sleep shirt that came down to her knees. "I've never really believed in that whole 'one size fits all' label and I see that I was right."

"Seriously though, my head is spinning. So much has happened in less than thirty-six hours. I thought that maybe you might be in the same boat. I was hoping we could just hang out for a little while until my head stops spinning."

Bobby didn't say anything. He just sat there, looking at her for so long that Sarah started to feel foolish and wrapped the comforter back around herself. Finally, Bobby asked, "Do you want a drink?"

She noticed the bottle on the floor by his feet. She was surprised to see it was almost half-empty. She could see the bag that Felix had handed Bobby in the bar and realized what was in it. "Sure, just a small one though. I don't think I want to try and catch up to you."

"Probably not. I've got a pretty good head start on you." Bobby picked up the bottle and looked at how much he'd had to drink so far. He was a little shocked to see how much he'd already had to drink. He decided he'd better slow down.

She walked to the desk that held the coffeemaker and glasses and brought one over. Bobby started to pour and continued to until Sarah cried out, "Whoa. That's more than enough." She noticed that he didn't add any to his glass. Bobby had never been much of a drinker; it brought back too many reminders of his late father. It had really surprised her to see that half-empty bottle when she came into the room.

"It helps stop the thoughts from spinning around." Bobby said.

"Maybe it'll help stop the thoughts from spinning around, but it'll be the start of my head spinning even faster. You know I'm not much of a drinker."

"Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable." Bobby waved his hands around indicating nowhere in particular.

Sarah saw there was as little choice of seating as in her room and plopped down on the edge of the bed across from Bobby. Motioning to the TV with her glass she asked, "Have you seen anything about tonight yet?"

"No, not yet." Bobby said as he looked at her over the top of his glass.

Feeling a little self-conscious Sarah took a sip of her drink and felt the warmth of the straight alcohol warm her blood and radiate throughout her body. "mmm… that's, that's good. I can see how you could have finished so much of it already."

"Don't you mean how I've drunk so much of it in such a short period of time? After all, it's only been about half an hour, forty-five minutes since we all left the bar downstairs, where I had two doubles. Just in case, you're keeping track of my drinking, Sarah."

"Should I be, Bobby?"

Slowly and deliberately, Bobby set down the glass and folded his arms across his chest. "No Sarah, you shouldn't be. I'm not going down that road. Today's just been a helluva day."

"You're right about that, I think it would have to be the last few days for me." Sarah said, trying to keep things light.

"Also, I think you gave up any right to keep track of anything I do, when you left two years ago."

'Well, there it is', Sarah thought. She felt this was something Bobby would bring this up eventually. Even though in the last two days they had gotten along really well, she knew that Bobby had been holding back, until now.

"You're right, of course. I'm sorry. It's really none of my business. I guess I should just go back to my room." Sarah stood as she looked at the liquor in her hand. She swirled the liquid around, raised the glass to her lips and drained it. "Thanks for the drink, Bobby."

She walked over to the desk where she'd picked up the glass and set it down. When she turned to the doorway, she found her way blocked by Bobby's massive frame. Not for the first time, she marveled at how quickly and quietly the man could move.

Bobby reached out and placed his hands one her arms, "Sarah, wait… I'm sorry." He paused, took, and released a deep breath. "I… I really don't want you to go. I… I never did."

"Oh, Bobby. Do we have to do this tonight? I don't think I can." She pulled away from him and tightly wrapped her arms around herself, "I had to before, I really did. I didn't want to, but I had to. You know what it was like, what I was like. What I was doing to us."

"I know. I knew it then. But it didn't make it easier. It's never what I wanted. I… I didn't know how to help you, what to do."

"Oh Bobby, I know that. But, don't you see, it was never about what you could or couldn't do for me. I had to sorted it out and make peace with it, myself. You couldn't do that for me. I… I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know how else to handle it. It was all around me. Reminders everyday, everywhere of everyone that was gone, everyone that had been taken away, everything that had happened, because of me. And all because of me. I had to get out before I really lost it."

Sarah had been pacing back and forth in front of Bobby who was still blocking the doorway. She wiped stray strands of hair and tears from her eyes. "I had to go. I'm sorry, but I had to go. I don't even know if I can ever go back. The longer I stayed out here, the easier it was to stay and harder for me to imagine going back to New York."

For the first time in a long time, Bobby stopped thinking about what it had been like for him when she left, and tried to remember what it had been like for her. He crossed the room, wrapped her in his arms, and pulled her into his chest. She stood there sniffling into his shirt, her arms at her sides. He reached up and started stroking her hair and whispering her name over and over. Slowly her arms came up and reached around him to pull him even closer.

She didn't have any idea how long they stood together like that. Bobby pulled back and brushed the hair from her face. Looking down into her upturned and tearstained face he begged, "Sarah, stay with me tonight. I… I don't want to be alone tonight."

Sarah covered her face with her hands and wiped away all her tears. She looked back up into Bobby's face and nodded. She whispered, "I don't want to be alone tonight either."

Bobby backed up to the bed until he felt the mattress hit the back of his knees and he sat. He pulled Sarah close, wrapped his arms around her waist, and nuzzled her stomach as she ran her hands through his hair. The comforter fell from around her as she stepped around Bobby and slid onto the bed. "Let's get some sleep."

When Bobby just sat there, Sarah crawled forward, put her arms on his shoulders, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bobby sat there staring at the floor. "Sarah, I'm sorry, about everything."

Sarah reached up and ran her hand through the back of his head, scrunching his hair between her fingers. "Bobby you really have so little to be sorry about, in all of this. It's my drama, not yours. Come on, just lean back and try to get some rest."

He got into the bed and turned out the light. He leaned against the headboard in the dark. He felt Sarah's weight shifting on the mattress and felt her arm reach across his body for his hand. She pulled his arm around her and slid down onto her side forcing him to do the same. "Let's get some sleep. Today was a jam packed day and tomorrow is most likely going to be another jam packed day."


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 20

Sarah awoke to the smell of coffee and stretched. She must have really slept in for the coffeemaker to have her coffee already. She stretched and wondered why Sammy had allowed her to sleep in after her big night… ohmigod, she just realized where she was. She bolted upright. She could hear the shower in the next room. Bobby was already awake, he'd had made coffee and -she heard the shower turn off - and was about to step out of the shower. She flashed back on the way Bobby used to look and smell after a shower and she hurriedly started to get out of the bed. The bathroom door opened but Bobby didn't exit.

Softly, she heard him ask, "Are you awake yet, Sarah?"

"Yeah, just. The smell of coffee was nice to wake up to." Feeling nervous she asked, "Would you like me to fix you a cup? I think I still remember how you take it."

"You mean, black. Yeah, that should be pretty easy to remember."

"Yes, black I remember. I also remember you'd just as soon take it intravenously, if you could."

Laughing, Bobby said, "Yeah, you remember all right."

Sarah handed him a cup through the doorway as she said, "Well, I guess I should get back to my room and get a shower too. Um… by the way, thanks for getting Felix to pick up those things for me. Just let me know how much…"

Bobby had come to stand in the doorway, barefoot and shirtless, but wearing his pants when he started to say, "Don't even…"

Sarah interrupted, "Ok, Ok, I had to make the meaningless gesture though didn't I? I mean you really didn't expect me to pay you for this, did you?" She asked as she plucked at the even lovelier in the daylight dayglo orange nightshirt.

"Felix dropped these by for you a little while ago." Bobby pointed at the brown paper bag on the chair.

Sarah went over to look inside and found a pair of jeans, t-shirt and a sweatshirt. "How did he know what size…"

"Last night he said you looked like you are about the same size as his girl friend. He said he'd check to see if she had anything you could borrow until the stores opened. He figured the dress you wore last night probably wasn't going to work today."

She pulled out a battered pair of converse high tops. "These are even the right size."

"Well, I remember a few things too Sarah. Including by not limited to clothing and shoe sizes."

"I'm sure there are a lot of things we both remember Bobby." Sarah said as she looked up at him. "Well, I'd better jump into that shower. Weren't we going to meet at 7 A.M. for breakfast?" Glancing at the digital clock by the bed, Sarah saw that it was just a little past 6 A.M.

"Yeah, at 7A.M." Sarah had turned to go when Bobby said, "Sarah, um …-about last night…" Sarah turned back to look at Bobby. "Thank you. It made things easier to… to not be alone last night."

"I agree, it was easier to not be alone. And nicer." Sarah turned and walked into her room and closed the connecting room door. She'd been so close. So close to saying, I want to come back. I don't want to be alone anymore.

Sarah was just about ready when she heard a knock at her door. "Just a second, I'm… I'm almost… no, I'm ready." Sarah rushed to the door, picking up the sweatshirt she'd thrown onto the bed.

She opened the door to find Alex and Andy standing side by side grinning at her. "What… what's so funny?"

"Oh, my husband thinks he's such a great judge of human nature. He bet me 20 bucks that you wouldn't be here, that you'd be in Bobby's room."

"Andy, are you implying that something improper was going on over on this side of the hall last night?"

Looking slightly embarrassed, Andy muttered, "No, not really. But a guy can hope can't he?"

"So Andy thought I'd be in Bobby's room, or was it someone else's room you envisioned…"

"Fine, fine. Very funny. I'm… I'm going to go get Bobby." Andy slunk off next door.

Laughing, Sarah looked at Alex, as she said, "And so you must have bet Andy that I'd spent the night in my room."

"No, I bet Andy that we'd FIND you in your room, not that you'd SPENT the night in it." Alex said, not failing to notice Sarah's slight blush. "Where'd you get the clothes?"

"That bellman, Felix. He dropped them off this morning. Apparently, he thought I was the same size as his girlfriend and that I'd probably be more comfortable dressed like this today, than in the dress I was wearing last night. He was right about the sizes, even, the shoes."

Bobby had joined Andy in the hall and they were waiting for Alex and Sarah to join them. Bobby fell in step with Sarah, and said, "Felix did a good job, guessing your sizes. You look very cute in your jeans and high tops."

"I kind of feel like I should be in grade school in the 60's. But I really need to find Felix and give him my thanks. He did a great job."

They walked into the hotel restaurant to discover Hawkins and Jenkins sitting at a table for six. "We just called up to the room and didn't get an answer, so we figured you were on your way down."

Coffee and juice were ordered, breakfast orders were placed, After the waitress had poured coffee all around, Alex asked, "So, what happened last night after we left?"

For a minute, Bobby thought Alex was asking him, because she had started out looking at him. But then, she switched her gaze to look and Hawkins and Jenkins.

"Well, you're not going to believe this, or maybe you will…"

Bobby and Alex both said, "She got away."

Jack and Steve nodded. "We got word that Phillip DaSilva's XJR Jaguar was found on the Mexico side of the border near the Otay crossing near San Diego. Phillip DaSilva hasn't turned up yet at his home or the homes of either of his sons."

"Oh no. You don't think that Ver.. Um, I mean, Nicole killed him?" No one answered. "You do, ohmigod. Oh you might not have noticed it last night, but Phillip is a very sweet man." Bobby reached out and rubbed Sarah's shoulder.

"Well, no one has discovered a body so far. He could still just be sleeping the night off. But given what you've told us about Nicole, my guess is, it doesn't look good for Phillip DaSilva." Steve looked at his partner, "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

Jack shook his head, "You go ahead."

"For some reason the Feds were in a very generous mood last night. Why I don't know, we all saw the entire op fall apart right in front of us. This was the most interesting part for us, we were shown the transcripts from the FBI's informant in that health spa in Arizona. During the time Nicole was at that spa, Laura Nelson was a receptionist there. Laura Nelson was their informant and the FBI is convinced that Nicole killed Laura to prevent her from revealing her secret to anyone. But she was too late, Laura had gone to the FBI regional office a month ago. The feds knew, before they brought you out here, that Veronica was Nicole."

"After Laura was killed, the FBI felt they needed to move on Nicole, they couldn't let her get away with murder, even though they didn't have the evidence to pick her up for murder anymore than you guys ever did. They had to force her hand. They started running everyone's backgrounds and found their connection. Sarah and Bobby. They were hoping Bobby would be able to force Nicole to make a move. It wasn't the play they thought she'd make. In fact, they really thought they had her."

"Well, we knew the Feds were going to play us, we just didn't realize the extent of it. Was any of the story they told us true?" Alex asked.

"Oh yeah, they were completely upfront about that. She was involved with an arms smuggler who wound up dead in the Arizona desert. What they didn't know and still don't is if Nicole was involved with the business end of it. Now, they're also wondering if Nicole had anything to do with his death. They had assumed it was one of his deals gone bad, but…" Jack shrugged as he ran out of story.

"So, um… I don't want to sound too self-centered here, but where does this leave me? Where do I stand? Does the FBI still want to talk to me?"

Steve shook his head. "No, Sarah as far as the FBI is concerned, they have no interest in you, you're no longer… they never really did... You were just a …"

"I was just… just leverage, leverage to get Bobby to confront Nicole." Sarah was seeing the whole picture now.

"Right. They probably will want to talk to you in a day or two. To find out if Nicole ever said anything about where she'd like to go, places she'd like to visit. She's on the run now, and not going where she'll settle."

"If Nicole is on the run, why would they want to wait a day or two to talk to Sarah? That doesn't make any sense. Are you sure Nicole got away from them? Did they tell you that?" Bobby asked.

"You think they lied to us?" Jack asked.

"I think they told you the story they want put out there. I think they have Nicole." Bobby said.

Nodding, Sarah understood why they'd want to know, she just didn't understand why no one believed her when she told them that they really hadn't been that close. It was all the magic of Hollywood, virtual strangers coming across as the best of friends.

"Jarvis and Caldwell have cut you two loose" Steve said, indicating Bobby and Alex. "You should probably call your boss. You'll probably be out of here on the first flight out tomorrow, that'll get you back to New York in time to go to work on Thursday morning. There's no rest for the wicked or the righteous."

"After we finish eating we'll run you by Westwood to get your cars."

Andy said, "I think it's just my rental we need to pick up. Sarah, didn't Bobby mention you arrived with the DaSilva's in their Limo?."

"Um… yeah. Tony had a limo pick me up. My car's at home. So, if I can catch a lift that way from someone?" Sarah looked at Andy as he continued to watch Steve as he continued the story.

"What about the press? I was trying to catch something on it on TV last night and then this morning, but couldn't find anything about last night." Bobby asked.

"Well, so far all we've seen is a couple of the TV entertainment reporters mentioning a bomb scare at the hotel after the screening, so it looks like that whole scenario was a non-starter. So I think it's safe for Sarah to go back home. At least as safe as it always was." Steve said.

"Sarah, just come right out and ask, don't beat around the bush with Andy. He doesn't always pick up on such subtly as a simple question." Alex smacked Andy on the arm. He really hadn't been paying attention.

"…We could even barbecue before you have to go back to New York, since our day is looking pretty interrogation free." Sarah smiled as Andy's head pop up.

"Now, you've got my attention, girl!" Rubbing his hands together, "Barbeque, that's got my name written all over it."

"I'm not forgetting about you two either. Jack and Steve please come; bring a wife or girlfriend or whatever…"

"We'll have to see how things wrap up for us. We're actually on duty today." Jack said, looking at his watch. "We've got a briefing with Jarvis at 10 o'clock, so if we're going to get you to your car, we should be going." Jack caught the waitress's eye and indicated they needed their check. "Breakfast is on the LAPD today folks. I guess I could have told you that before you placed your orders, couldn't I?"

"OK, so who's going to Westwood with me?" Steve asked.

"Alex, why don't you and Andy go? You two can take in some of the sights. I'll call in and see what Deakins and the Chief's Office wants us to do."

"What about you Sarah? You want to show Alex and me the sights, or you want to just kind of hang out at the hotel today?"

"Well, if it's all right with you, I'd kind of just like to hang out today. There are some calls I need to make. I need to call my agent and let him know how the screening went last night. And, of course, Tony. Hopefully there will be good news about Phillip, but if not…"

Jack started saying goodbyes, he was going to go straight to Central Division and get the latest update on things, "Steve, don't forget 10 o'clock in the chief's office."

"I'll be there. Don't worry. Okay, let's hit it you two, I don't want to get a demerit for being late. Sarah, Bobby, I hope to see you both later tonight. A barbecue sounds nice."

The three walked out of the lobby to wait for the valet to bring the SUV around.


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21

Left standing in the lobby, Sarah and Bobby looked at each other. Now that there was no intrigue to keep them occupied, they were feeling awkward in each other's company. Last night didn't help either.

"Well, I guess we both have calls to make. The first one to finish wins. Loser buys the first round." Sarah joked.

Bobby laughed. "All right. On your marks, get set, speed dial."

They rode the elevator up to their floor. As they reached Bobby's door, he turned and started to say something, then thought better of it. He shook his head and just said, "See you in awhile."

"Don't forget, first one to finish, wins."

"Right." Bobby waited until Sarah was safely in her room before entering his. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and pressed speed dial #1 - One Police Plaza and Captain Deakins office.

"Deakins."

"Captain, it's Goren. I have just one question for you. Did the Chief brief you about the real purpose of this trip? Did you know this was about Nicole Wallace?"

"No, Bobby he didn't. The story I told you was word for word what I got from the Chief. I think the FBI's Regional Chief told the Chief of D's and the Commissioner the truth about the operation. They're both aware of your and Eames connection with Nicole. I think they did what they thought best to get the two of you out there as quickly as they could."

"We should have been told the truth, upfront. We should have known what we were walking into." Bobby was restlessly pacing his room, trying to burn off some of his anger at the deception.

"I agree Bobby. And I told that to the Chief as soon as I found out the truth." Deakins had been outraged by the deception and he'd put his badge on the line, the way he confronted the Chief.

"Well, I don't know if you've heard yet, but we didn't help very much. The Feds are saying that Nicole got away. If we're meant to believe that, at least now they know what she looks like. Which is nothing like the Nicole we knew."

"Yeah, we've heard about Nicole. Are you saying you don't believe Nicole got away? The Commissioner and the Chief got the news early this morning. From the FBI's Regional Chief. They probably got the word before you did."

"The Feds haven't been upfront about anything so far, I'm just not sure that I trust them to be so upfront and forthcoming now. Why shouldn't the Chief and the Commissioner know about this before Eames and I. We were just the pawns in this match." Bobby's indignation was starting to get the better of him. He knew he was getting close to the edge. "I don't think the Feds are going to need us anymore. And LAPD is definitely finished with us. Eames and I are ready to come home." Bobby said.

'Both you and Eames have accrued a lot of vacation days. Your plane tickets are open-ended return courtesy of the FBI, so why don't you take the rest off the week as R and R? Reed and Sawyer are making some progress on the Tyler case. Carver's fine holding off on taking the Janseen case to the Grand Jury. There's no reason why you should hurry back. You deserve a break, at least through the weekend. I need you back here first thing Monday morning."

"Well I'll let Alex and Andy know. They may want to stay. I'll probably just head on back to the city."

"Well, you can do what you want Goren, but I'm serious about you taking the rest of the week off. I don't want to see you back in the office until Monday. How much did this Nicole mess with your head? I need you back here focused and ready to go. I need you back here at 100 and ready to go; not hung up on what you might have done differently to bring in Nicole. No one could have predicted that Nicole would be able to slip out of a building surrounded by federal agents?" Deakins didn't even want to think about what it would mean if Bobby had seen Sarah while out in Los Angeles.

"I could have. I should have. If she really did." Bobby sat staring at the half empty bottle of Glenlivet.

"Even for Nicole that's quite a feat. But that's what I mean, Bobby. Don't second-guess yourself on this one. Let it go. Get right with this. You did what you could. You did more than anyone could have. No one, except you, expects more of you than that. Get right with this. Get in front of it. And then come back to work."

"I'll make sure that Alex and Andy know about the time off. I'm sure they'll both appreciate it. We'll see you on Monday." Goren disconnected the call. He threw his cell phone on the bed and collapsed in the same chair he'd sprawled on last night.

He hated that Nicole had always managed to get through his carefully constructed defenses, and that after these encounters, the cracks were enough for others to see into as well.

He raked his hands through his hair and roughly rubbed his face. As he sighed and scanned the room, his gaze was drawn back to the bottle from last night. He wasn't tempted by it now, but resentful that he had been last night. He wondered how much the half-empty bottle would have left in it, if Sarah hadn't come through that door last night.

Bobby stared at the connecting room door. What was going on over there? What was she thinking? What did she think about his impulsive visit to her house the other night? What effect had the events of the last two days had on her thoughts? What did he think about all this?

Sarah was knocking at the connecting door. "OK, I'm finished with my calls. How about you?" Bobby got up, walked over to the door, and opened it. Sarah had a big smile on her face. "I just got off the phone with Tony DaSilva. His father called about an hour ago. The Border Patrol picked him up early this morning near Mexicali. He was wandering around, confused, dehydrated and in need of his insulin - he's diabetic - but other than that he's fine."

"That's good news. I'm happy for you. I'm happy for them." Bobby looked down at her and grinned. Her smile had always effected him that way.

"Hey, I don't know why, but I'm feeling really good today. I mean, really, really great. I keep thinking I should be in shock or something, but I feel energized. How weird is that?"

Bobby shook his head, "It's not weird at all. It's part of the adrenaline rush. You'll crash, it might take a day or two, but you will. If you're lucky, the crash will just make you want to sleep for days. Remember, that's how it usually affected me."

"Yeah… yeah, I remember. Um… look I don't think I want to hang out here at the hotel after all. There's not much to do. How about we go out to my place and hang out at the beach. We… we could grab a cab. Alex and Andy can meet us there later. It'll give me a chance to make sure that I have everything for a barbecue and to get ready for tonight. Entertaining hasn't been much of a priority since I've been out here and I probably need just about everything with the possible exception of that full bar I still have. How does it sound? Helping me get ready for this barbecue, I volunteered to host. It really is the high life out here."

Sarah rushed through this. She was feeling very nervous. What if Bobby didn't want anything more to do with her? What if his curiosity about any feelings he might have been harboring had been satisfied the other night when he drove out to the beach. She didn't think this was the case. There was last night. There had been trust and real feeling still there, hadn't there? She wasn't sure how to read him anymore, not that she'd ever been very successful reading him before. Everything had been so messed up between them, he might just want to avoid her and get as far away from her as possible and get back to work in New York.

A spark of hope flared as Bobby answered, "Well, if you really think the beach is going to be nicer than the swimming pool at a downtown Holiday Inn situated between two major freeways." He was teasing her. She took that as a good sign. That was something they'd been able to do since the moment they met.

"Just a little bit, don't you think?" At least he hadn't flat out said no yet.

"Sure, let me get change out of and throw on some jeans. I'll call Alex and Andy and let them know about the change in plans."

"OK. How about we meet downstairs once you've changed. I'd like to find your friend Felix and thank him for the clothes. So I'll see you in the lobby in a few minutes."

Bobby nodded, "downstairs in about fifteen minutes."

"Perfect." Sarah backed out of the room and closed the door. Maybe there was a chance. Sarah threw her few belongings in the sack Felix had delivered earlier and left the room to go downstairs and check out.

Sarah walk to the front desk, "I'd like to check out … room 713. Another card was used last night to check in, but I'd like the charges put on this card instead."

"OK, that shouldn't be a problem, let me just pull up the room number… Um, hmmm, last night when you checked in the card was used to pay for the room, not secure it. The bill has been taken care of already."

Looking at the woman's nametag, Sarah asked, "Well Alice, a friend of mine did that for me, and he really shouldn't have. I hate to be a bother, but is there anyway you could credit his card back and charge mine?"

"Bobby's not going to like that, Miss Stevens." Turning to see who was speaking, Sarah found herself looking at Felix, who was leaning up against the far end of the front desk. "Are you sure this in the best time to throw your independence up in Bobby's face? It seemed very important last night that HE saw to it that you were taken care of properly."

"Felix, right? Good, I was hoping you'd still be working. I wanted to be able to thank you for the things last night and the clothes this morning. I'd like to repay you for them, if you'll just let me know how much it all came to." Sarah was rummaging through the bag looking for her evening bag from last night. "I don't have much cash with me, but I'm sure there's an ATM here or close by, isn't there?"

"You're welcome. I was glad to be able to help. You don't owe me anything. Bobby took care of everything last night. Take it up with him if you have to, but what he did last night, he did because he wanted to do it for you. Not because it was the decent thing to do, or because it was expected, but because it was the only way he could look out for you, so that's what he did. Let him do it."

Sarah was chewing on her upper lip as she listened to Felix. After Felix finished, Sarah looked back to Alice and said, "Um… okay, can I get a copy of the charges and we'll leave the billing as it is."

Alice printed out a receipt and handed it to Sarah as Bobby walked up to the desk. "We ready to go?" Bobby asked as Sarah folded the receipt and put it in the paper sack. "Good morning, Felix. Alice." Bobby clapped Felix on the back, while slipping a couple of folded twenty-dollar bills into the pocket of Felix's jacket. "Thanks again for your help last night."

"Well, as I was telling Sarah here, I was glad to be able to help." Felix said.

"Well, how about helping us one more time. We need a cab. One that'll take us out to Santa Monica and not rip us off."

Feigning mock indignation, Felix clutched his chest before replying, "Hey, this is L.A. not New York. Our cabbies are straight up honest."

"hmmm, hmmm." Bobby replied, "Sure."

"Well, I know the guy that's sitting out front is. He's a friend of mine. I'll make sure he takes care of you."

Felix leaned into the front of the driver's window and said, "Take care of my friends, would you Art? They need to get out to Santa Monica."

"Sure thing. Get in."

Felix held the door open as Sarah got in, pausing long enough to look at him and say, "Thank you, Felix. Thank you." Felix nodded and Sarah knew that he'd gotten what she meant, but couldn't say.

Felix stopped Bobby for a second and said, "I'll bet you those two twenties you slipped into my jacket, that you won't be using your room here tonight."

Bobby shook his head, "No… no bet. I learned a long time ago to only bet on a sure thing and that there no such thing as a sure thing."

"Well, you're wrong this time Detective."

Laughing, Bobby got in the cab and settled back as the car headed onto the freeway.


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

On the drive, Sarah pointed out some of the areas they were driving through, trying to avoid anything serious or any awkward silences. Finally having exhausted her travelogue Sarah asked, "Were you able to get in touch with Alex and Andy?"

"Yeah, they were on there way up to Hollywood Boulevard to check out one of the building sights Andy is interested to set up an LA Office in. After that, she said they'd head out to your place. Andy said he can pull up the history on the GPS and find their way here. She said she'd call when they were ready to come over."

"Sounds good. Well, here we are." The cab pulled into the driveway and as Bobby got out; Sarah reached over the cab drivers shoulder, paid the meter and tip and got out. Bobby was reaching for his wallet as Sarah said, "Stop right there mister. The cab is taken care of. YOU have taken care of too much since last night. A simple cab ride is not beyond me to take care of."

Bobby threw his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok, fine by me."

As they walked up the short drive and around the side to the door, Sarah saw Sammy on the upper deck next door staring at the sliding glass door the two of them used most. Sarah called out, "Sammy!" Sammy's head shot up and turned. He stood and bounded down the stairs to jump up on to Sarah, as if he hadn't seen her in years, rather than just about 24 hours.

Laughing at Sammy's exuberance, Sarah thought that the 24 hours since she'd last seen the dog was probably the longest period to have elapsed since she'd adopted the dog.

"Come on boy, let's get inside." Sarah unlocked the door and followed Sammy in, as Bobby followed her in.

"Are you more hungry or thirsty?"

Bobby had been looking at the view in the daylight. Something he hadn't had time to do when he was here yesterday. Startled, Bobby asked, "Are you asking me or the dog?"

Sarah smiled, "Both of you." Sarah walked out into the kitchen and put out some fresh food and water for Sammie. "I've got food fit for humans too, if you're hungry Bobby."

"No, I'm fine. I could use something to drink. Soda? Or water?"

"Help yourself. There should be both in the mini fridge behind the bar. There should also be ice and glasses at the bar. Could you grab me a coke, in the can is fine. I'm just going to check my messages real quick."

Bobby grabbed a coke for himself and one for Sarah and went over to look out the window in Sarah's workroom. He moved the book that was still on the loveseat and sat looking out at the beach.

Sarah came down about ten minutes later, looking more like herself in a tank top and Capri pants, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Not that different from the other night when he'd showed up at her door unannounced. "See, I told you the view is absolutely amazing in the daytime."

"You're right. It is amazing. This … this would be hard to leave."

"Yeah, it will be." When Bobby looked at her quizzically, she added, "I am only renting. To buy something like this would be more than I'm willing to go into debt for. Besides, I already own a home. I don't see why one person needs more than one home. I may have stayed out here longer than I'd originally intended, but home is still New York."

"So, you'll be coming back to 'the city' some day?"

"Sure. I've actually been thinking about it a lot lately. It's something that I have to do. I know it's not going to be easy going back and I may wind up not staying, but I can't avoid an entire city for the rest of my life." Sarah said as she took a drink of her soda and watched Bobby over the top of the can.

"Well, one thing about New York City, is that it doesn't change much. Still all the same familiar sights."

"You mean, like the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island Ferry, Carnegie Deli?"

"Yep, they're all still in the same place. Haven't moved."

"It's good to know some things haven't changed. I really started thinking about moving back about a month and a half ago when the current tenants gave their notice. They're staying until the end of next month, which would give me time to have it cleaned and repainted by the time the book tour is over. It's just something I've been thinking about. But it really scares me too."

Sarah walked back out to the living room and went over to the bar. Sarah poured the coke she had left into a glass and grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan's Rum. She poured in a healthy amount and added enough ice to fill up the glass. She took a big gulp and swallowed it. She took another and then drew a deep breath and let it out.

"Can I ask you something, Bobby?"

"Well, sure, but let me ask one first. Can I get some of that rum, too?" Sarah was still behind the bar. Bobby walked over to the bar, pulled out one of the stools, and sat down as Sarah busied herself getting his drink.

They clinked glasses and each took a drink. After about a minute of staring into their drinks, Bobby looked up and softly inquired, "What did you want to ask me Sarah?"

Sarah looked up at him and shook her head 'no'. "Um…." Then the phone rang.

Sarah ran over to pick it up. It was Tony DaSilva. She had called him earlier in the morning to find out if there was any news about his father.

"Hello,"

"Hello Sarah, it's Tony. I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to you, but I'm sure you can understand. I just wanted to let you know that I was finally able to talk to my dad and he really is all right. Sunburned and a little dehydrated, angry as a hornet, but fine. They took him to a hospital in San Diego to get him his insulin and on an IV to help re-hydrate him. Vince and I are leaving now to drive down now and bring him home."

"Oh Tony I'm… I'm so glad. Are you Okay? Things got so crazy last night. And there just wasn't a chance to tell you what I knew."

"Yes, I'm… I'm fine. and there'll be plenty of time to get everything cleared up once we get dad home. I just wanted to let you know that everything here is fine, because I knew you'd be concerned. I'll call you in a day or two and we'll get it all figured out. I really do want to hear the full story."

"OK… give my best to your father. And your brother. I'm so sorry that so much has happened to your family lately. First your brother, and now your father."

"You're forgetting about what happened to me."

What… what are you talking about. What happened to you?"

"I found out exactly why we're never going to be more than friends. I met your Detective Goren."

"Oh Tony…" Sarah looked over towards Bobby, who twirling his glass in his hands and staring into his drink

"No, it's going to be all right. I'll call you in a day or two. Goodbye Sarah. I'll talk to you soon." Tony hung up before Sarah had a chance to say goodbye. She stood with her back towards Bobby as she stared at the phone.

"Sarah? Sarah is everything ok? Are you all right?" Bobby came over and gently turned her to face him. Tears filled her eyes and one spilled down her cheek. "Sarah what is it? What's wrong baby?" Bobby wrapped his arms around her and held her.

"What's wrong with me? What is it about me that ruins everything? Every… every friendship, every relationship doesn't just end. It's demolished, incinerated. My parents, Michael, Angie, You and now Tony and his father and his brother."

"It's not you Sarah. It isn't. You're not to blame for any of it. None of it, do you hear me?" Brushing the tears from her face, he looked down at her. "Sarah, none of it has been your fault. Ever." He bent down and kissed her forehead.

Sarah's arms had been at her sides through all this but now she brought them up around Bobby's neck. She brought her gaze up to his and whispered his name, "Bobby…"

Bobby leaned down further to kiss her lips fiercely, running his hands through her hair, down her back, pulling her closer and closer still. Sarah kissed him back as fiercely, clinging to him. After several minutes, Sarah pulled back. Trying to catch her breath, she whispered, "Let's… Let's sit down." as she led Bobby towards the sofa.

Bobby sat and held out his hand to Sarah who was still standing. He pulled her close as she leaned into him and laid her head on his shoulder. They sat in silence for several minutes. Bobby softly whispered, "Sarah?'

"hmm…." Sarah replied as she snuggled closer.

"I …I think we have a few things to talk about."

"I think we have a lot of things to talk about. But can't they all wait for a little while longer? Just five minutes… that's all, just five minutes to get my balance back. I'm feeling a little dizzy." Sarah asked as she once again looked up into Bobby's brown eyes.

"Dizzy huh? Okay, five minutes. I'm feeling a little lightheaded myself." Bobby continued stroking Sarah's hair.

The ring of Bobby's cell phone woke him up. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep, but Sarah was asleep too. He shifted his weight to reach into his pant pocket to get to his phone. Looking at the caller ID, he saw that Alex was calling.

"Hey Alex, what's up?"

"Bobby, do you think Sarah would be upset if Andy and I beg off tonight? We ran into a guy that Andy knows who could be a real help in getting an L.A. office opened. He invited us to dinner…."

"Don't worry about it Alex. I'll let Sarah know when she wakes up. She kind of conked out a little bit ago. I think she's gone through the adrenaline rush and she's crashing."

"Have you heard from Steve and Jack yet? Are they coming?"

"No, haven't heard from them yet. But it's okay. Sarah and I will be fine." Bobby looked down at Sarah as she slept against his chest. "We're going to be fine Alex."

"Bobby?"

"Yes, Alex…"

"Bobby, that's great to hear. I mean, really great."

"Thanks Alex." Bobby wasn't surprised that Alex knew what he'd been trying not to say, while still letting her know. They had been partners long enough to now how to read each other. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow." Alex closed her phone and looked over at Andy who was fiddling with the car's GPS device.

"Was Sarah upset about the change in plans?" he asked.

"Um… she doesn't know yet. Bobby said she crashed. She's asleep. I think she'll be okay with it. I think Bobby's hoping that Steve and Jack aren't able to make it either. It seems like maybe there's a chance that Bobby and Sarah are going to figure out a way to …"

"To be together? Well, we hoped it was only a matter of time. Sometimes it helps to keep a good thought."

"It sure does." Alex slid closer to her husband. "It sure does."

Waking just enough to form a question, Sarah asked, "Was that Alex?"

"hmmm, hmmm." Bobby set his phone down on the end table. "She and Andy aren't going to make it to dinner. They ran into someone who could help setting up the business here in L.A."

"That's good." Sarah said groggily. "I… I'm so tired, I can't keep my eyes open. I don't know why."

"Remember, when I told you about the adrenaline rush from yesterday and how you'd crash eventually. I think your eventually is here."

"But, there's so much we need to talk about…"

"Shh… shh. It's fine. We will, we will. It's going to happen. We're going to talk it all out. It still may not work out, but we both know that we're going to talk. We're both going to try to work our way through. It can wait a few more hours."

"OK… I guess you're right. I want to go lie down upstairs, stretch out on the bed, and sleep for days. Will you come upstairs with me?"

"Whatever, wherever, whenever you want. I'll be there Sarah."

"So will I, Bobby." Sarah said as she stood and led Bobby upstairs.


End file.
